tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36770261027712465092024-03-04T23:28:57.003-08:00Notre Dame in the Civil WarA blog chronicling the research and writing of my forthcoming book, "Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory" (The History Press, 2010)Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-12779563966959385462015-06-07T08:00:00.000-07:002015-06-07T10:43:45.245-07:00150 Years Ago Today - Gen. W. T. Sherman's 1865 Commencement Address at Notre Dame<span style="font-family: Baskerville-Italic; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Baskerville-Italic; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Baskerville-Italic; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Baskerville-Italic; font-size: large;"><strong>I am pleased to provide an excerpt from my book, </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><em><strong>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</strong></em></a><strong>, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the commencement address delivered by Union general William T. Sherman at the University of Notre Dame, on June 7, 1865.</strong></span></span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">"<em>Life is only another kind of battle and it requires as good a generalship to conduct it </em><em>to a successful end as it did to conquer a city, or to march through Georgia."</em></span></strong><br />
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<strong>–William T. Sherman, Notre Dame commencement address, June 7, 1865</strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">The Sherman family—fresh from grand reviews and a series of congratulatory banquets—stopped at Notre Dame on Wednesday, June 7, 1865. The university took advantage of the presence of their distinguished guest and invited him to speak at that day’s commencement exercises. When Sherman entered the refectory, the students gave him an ovation. <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/11/notre-dames-civil-war-student-soldier.html">Timothy Howard</a>, the wounded veteran of Shiloh—and now a Notre Dame professor—addressed the general on behalf of the faculty. The professor first congratulated Sherman on his military exploits and success and then on the general’s special connection to the university:</span></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">We are glad that you have kindly visited us on your way; we knew you would not forget us. From the field of strife and the march, your heart must have often turned to the quiet shades where dwelt the treasures of your soul. And when the war was over, we knew that General Sherman would come to see the places made sacred to him by the consecrating footsteps of his family, and rest with us and let Notre Dame be a gentle spot in the midst of toils in the present and honors in the future.</span></em></strong> <strong>(1)</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Tommy Corcoran, a senior from Cincinnati, also congratulated the general and spoke with pride of how the university had a part in the Union victory, stating that “[p]riests, sisters, professors and students have gone out from their quiet places, and have become part in your grand armies; and a feeling of glory goes up in our souls as we remember that we, too, have a share in your renown.” (2)</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">The general’s nephew, Tom Ewing, then spoke on behalf of the junior department. He first poked fun at the seniors, saying that most of them were going to be doctors so that they could <em>“kill other people without endangering their own lives,”</em> while the rest would become lawyers so that they <em>“may be smart enough to find excuses for avoiding all coming drafts.”</em> His fellow juniors, though, he proudly declared, <em>“have unanimously and solemnly resolved…to be soldiers…[and] Major Generals, also.”</em> He then alluded touchingly to the general’s favorite son, stating, <em>“You have come here, we know, to visit the halls where </em><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2013/10/150-years-ago-our-little-sergeant-death.html"><em>Willy</em></a><em> studied, the groves where he played, and the boys who were his friends—a title we are proud to claim.”</em> (3)</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">The general was deeply moved and assured the audience that the boys at Notre Dame were dear to him. Sherman declared that, under the circumstances, he would rather <em>“fight a respectable battle in behalf of the nation’s rights, than make a speech now,”</em> adding, <em>“[b]ut it is clear that you expect me to say something and I don’t want to disappoint you.”</em> He then delivered some unprepared remarks (his trademark), commenting on his own youth and the need for self-reliance and referring often to the great national struggle:</span></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Let me not forget that I was once a young man like those who have appeared before the audience on this day and occasion. You should be grateful that you are under such good instruction and guidance. You now have a pilot on board to guide you, but the time will come, and soon, when you will have to go forth into the great, dark seas alone, under your own guidance…</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">You must see to it that the ship is strong, the pilot true and the compass unerring…No one can tell when the ship might be wanted, when it will be required to go into action and even to do fighting for America. God knows there has been enough of fighting for a long spell, but it is the highest wisdom and the best policy…to be ready for that encounter at any moment…</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>But I ask you to remember that, although I have no more than ordinary abilities such as any of you possess, I had not forgotten to take care of the ship and that I trusted in the pilot—in myself. I relied upon my own courage and foresight and in my devotion to the good old cause, to the Union, to truth, to liberty and, above all, to the God of battles…</i></span></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">So I call upon the young men here to be ready to at all times to perform bravely the battle of life…A young man should always stand in his armor, with his sword in hand and his buckler on.</span></em></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">The general concluded by promising the young men assembled that he would <em>“always regard you and your pursuits with interest,”</em> with confidence that <em>“each of you will try to make your careers honorable as well as successful,”</em> and then he then bade them farewell. (4)</span></strong><br />
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<strong>Notes:</strong></div>
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<strong>(1) <em>Chicago Evening Journal</em>, June 16, 1865.</strong></div>
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<strong>(2) Ibid</strong></div>
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<strong>(3) Ibid.<br />(4) “General Sherman at Notre Dame” in Wilson D. Miscamble, ed., <em>Go Forth and Do Good: Memorable Notre Dame Commencement Addresses</em> (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003), 46–47.</strong><br />
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<strong>Note: Sherman's speech is the first of many in the wonderful book cited above: <em>Go Forth and Do Good: Memorable Notre Dame Commencement Addresses</em> by Fr. William D. Miscamble (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003). It includes more than two dozen addresses from 1865 through 2001.</strong></div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-36809674611434128852015-04-21T10:04:00.001-07:002015-04-21T10:04:23.175-07:00April 21, 1865 - "Mournful Intelligence" - A Notre Dame Student-Soldier Learns About Lincoln's Assassination<strong>I have featured information about Orville T. Chamberlain - a Notre Dame graduate, Union soldier in the 74th Indiana infantry, and Medal of Honor recipient - several times here on the blog (see </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-4-1861-lincolns-inauguration.html"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2013/09/150-years-ago-today-notre-dame-hero-at.html"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>, and </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-eve-1864-for-notre-dame.html"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>).</strong><br />
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<strong>Indeed, my book - <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size: large;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></a></em> - starts with an excerpt from a letter Chamberlain wrote as a student, dated March 4, 1861, in which he describes how the school had the afternoon off in honor of the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln.</strong><br />
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<strong>It's fitting, then, to share one of his last wartime letters - dated April 21, 1865 - 150 years ago today - and written to his father from his camp about nineteen miles from Raleigh, NC, in which he discusses several pieces of news:</strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">"Quite a brisk skirmish"</span></em> near Clayton, NC, on April 10, 1865</strong><br />
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<strong>The announcement of Lee's surrender to Grant - <em><span style="font-size: large;">"the camp was full of excitement and joy"</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong>His visit to the state house in Raleigh - <em><span style="font-size: large;">"better than the capitol of Indiana or Georgia, but no so good as that of Tennessee."</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong>His interaction with a local Confederate family and their daughter</strong><br />
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<strong>and - a solemn bookend to his March 4, 1861, letter, this:</strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Since we came here we received the Gen. Sherman's Order announcing the assassination of President Lincoln. The mournful intelligence was received by our army with feelings of mingled rage and sorrow. If the perpetrator of the damnable deed were here, he would be torn into a thousand tatters. We all wanted to see Abraham Lincoln live to see the fruits of his labors, and we wanted to honor in the future his honesty and his wisdom.</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong>and a quote from Macbeth:</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Besides, this Duncan bore his faculties so meek,</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>He was so clear in his great office, that his virtues</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>The deep damnation of his taking-off;</em></span></strong><br />
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<strong>and - finally - closing with a note of peace and hope:</strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">"...it is probable that I will live to get home."</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Reference: Letter, Orville Chamberlain to Joseph Chamberlain, August 23,1862, Chamberlain Papers, Box 1, Folder 8, Indiana Historical Society (IHS)</span> </span></strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Letter, Orville Chamberlain to father, April 21, 1865, Indiana Historical Society</strong></td></tr>
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Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-18707882045333624742013-10-04T18:06:00.000-07:002013-10-04T18:06:42.287-07:00150 Years Ago - "Our Little Sergeant" - The Death of Willie Sherman<b>150 years ago - October 3, 1863 - "Willie" Sherman, the 9-year old son of General William T. Sherman, died in Memphis, Tennessee, with his family by his side...and a Notre Dame priest as well. </b><br />
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<b>The story is below in an excerpt from my book, <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><i>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</i></a></span>. The story begins shortly after the surrender of Confederate forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July 1863.</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Soldier’s Fate</b></span></div>
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<b>An Excerpt from</b></div>
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<i><b>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</b></i></div>
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<b>(The History Press, 2010)</b></div>
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<b>by James M. Schmidt</b></div>
<b><br /><i><span style="font-size: large;">“I wish you could see [Vicksburg] for a minute, but it is not right for children to be here, as the danger is too great,”</span></i> William T. Sherman had written his son, Willy, but after the surrender of the city, the general felt confident enough to invite his family to his new camp on the Big Black. Sherman assured his father-in-law that the camp was <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“one of the best possible,”</i></span> that it <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“combine[d] comfort, retirement, safety, and beauty”</i></span> and that he had <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“no apprehensions on the score of health.”</i></span> His wife, Ellen, was thrilled at the invitation, writing, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“We are all so crazy to go…The thought of going down to you has spread sunshine over everything—all have gone to bed to dream happy dreams & my own heart is full of joy—God grant that nothing may occur to mar the happiness we anticipate.”</i></span> (1)</b><br />
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<b>Ellen, daughters Lizzie and Minnie and sons Willy and Tommy—Ellie and Rachel, only toddlers, remained at home—arrived in mid-August, and their days were full from dawn to dusk. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“The children are happy and well and their Father is delighted to have them with him,” </i></span>Ellen wrote her mother. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Minnie and Willy ride horseback with him while Lizzie and Tommy drive about with me in the carriage.”</i></span> Ellen also had the comfort of a Notre Dame chaplain, adding, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Sunday we attended Mass at Hugh’s headquarters and heard Father Carrier preach.”</i></span> (2)</b><br />
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<b><br />For Willy, especially, the visit was a great adventure, and he reveled being so close to his father, who recalled, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“[He] took the most intense interest in the affairs of the army. He was a great favorite with the soldiers, and used to ride with me on horseback in the numerous drills and reviews…He was called a sergeant in the regular battalion, learned the manual of arms, and regularly attended the parade and guard-mounting of the Thirteenth [U.S. Infantry], back of my camp.”</i></span> In a letter a few weeks later, Sherman thanked the soldiers for the kindness they had extended to his son that summer, writing that <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Willie was, or thought he was, a sergeant in the Thirteenth. I have seen his eyes brighten, his heart beat, as he beheld the battalion under arms, and asked me if they were not real soldiers.”</i></span> (3)</b><br />
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<b>In late September, duty called again, and Sherman was asked to move his corps from its camp on the Big Black to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sherman dispatched his troops immediately and followed quickly with his family, all boarding the steamer Atlantic bound for Memphis. Both<br />Minnie and Willy became ill on the voyage. The usually energetic boy was listless and weary as they pushed up the river. A regimental surgeon on board the Atlantic examined the little soldier and declared him quite sick—perhaps fatally so—with “camp fever.” As soon as the steamer reached Memphis on October 2, 1863, the Shermans took Willy to the Gayoso Hotel and called for the town’s best physicians, yet the ministrations were to no avail.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>“Our Little Sergeant Willie” is buried in the Sherman family plot at Calvary Cemetery, St.<br />Louis, Missouri. Photo is courtesy Curtis Fears</b></td></tr>
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<b>Notre Dame’s Father Carrier had traveled with the family and stayed at Willy’s side almost constantly. Sensing the seriousness of Willy’s condition, the chaplain began to gently speak to Willy of heaven. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“He told me that he was willing to die if it was God’s will,” </i></span>Father Carrier wrote Ellen a few weeks later, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“but it pained him to leave his Father and Mother.”</i></span> He continued:</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fr. Joseph C. Carrier</b></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>He said this with an expression of such deep earnestness that I could hardly refrain from giving way to my feelings. I endeavored to soothe his sentiments of subdued regret. “Willy,” I said quietly and calmly, “If God wishes to call you to Him now do not grieve, for He will carry you to Heaven and there you will meet your good Mother and Father again.” “Well,” he breathed, with an air of singular resignation</i></span>. (4)</b><br />
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<b><br />Willy drifted in and out of sleep, waking only to inquire of the whereabouts of his prized rifle. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“He never complained; how I wish he would have complained more!”</i></span> Ellen wrote. Willy Sherman died the next day, October 3, 1863, at 5 p.m. (5)</b><br />
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<b>Notes:</b><br />
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<b>The young William Sherman was referred to as both "Willie" and "Willy" in Sherman family correspondence. </b><br />
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<b>(1) Letter, William T. Sherman to William T. Sherman Jr., June 21, 1863, CSHR 2/170, University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA); Brooks D. Simpson and Jean V. Berlin, eds., <i>Sherman’s Civil War: Selected Correspondence of William T. Sherman, 1860–1865</i> (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999), 521; Letter, Ellen Sherman to William T. Sherman, July 26, 1863, CSHR 2/108, UNDA.</b><br />
<b>(2) Anna McAllister, <i>Ellen Ewing: Wife of General Sherman</i> (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1936), 264.</b><br />
<b>(3) William T. Sherman, <i>Memoirs of General William T. Sherman</i>, vol. 1 (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1886), 377, 373.</b><br />
<b>(4) Letter, Ellen Sherman to William T. Sherman, October 1863 (n.d.), CSHR 2/109, UNDA.</b><br />
<b>(5)McAllister, <i>Ellen Ewing</i>, 268. </b><br />
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<b>Learn more about the Sherman family and Notre Dame in previous posts <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/05/sherman-papers-at-notre-dame.html">here</a> and <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/12/perform-bravely-battle-of-life-william.html">here</a> and <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/01/fisticuffs-at-notre-dame-and-st-marys.html">here</a></b><br />
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<b>Learn more about Fr. Carrier of Notre Dame in previous posts <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-3.html">here</a> and <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2013/07/notre-dame-at-vicksburg-andvicksburg-at.html">here</a></b><br />
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<br />Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-52967853096993912082013-09-19T18:09:00.000-07:002013-09-19T18:09:09.618-07:00150 Years Ago Today - A Notre Dame Hero at Chickamauga<b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“I am still alive, and that’s saying enough to be thankful for.”</i></span> - 1863 Letter from Orville T. Chamberlain, 74th Indiana, to his parents, following the Battle of Chickamauga</b> </b><br />
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<b>The Battle of Chickamauga was fought 150 years ago this week, September 19-20, 1863</b><br />
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<b>Notre Dame student-soldiers and chaplain Fr. Peter Cooney were there.</b><br />
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<b>Among the student-soldiers was recent graduate Orville T. Chamberlain, who earned the Medal of Honor for courage under fire in the battle.</b><br />
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<b>His story is below in an excerpt from my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</i></span></a> (The History Press, 2010).</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Perilous Journey</b></span></div>
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<b><br />In mid-August 1863, the 74th Indiana Infantry regiment—then occupying middle Tennessee— moved south as Major General William Rosecrans consolidated his scattered forces and successfully forced the Rebel army out of Chattanooga. Confederate general Braxton Bragg was determined to reoccupy the city and launched an attack on the Union army in mid-September. Late on September 18, 1863, the 74th Indiana struck out on an all-night march on the Chattanooga Road and arrived at Chickamauga early the next morning. The official report declared that the regiment halted and took a hasty cup of coffee—<span style="font-size: large;"><i>“‘hasty’ indeed it was, for the few who got any,”</i></span> Orville T. Chamberlain recalled. (1)</b><br />
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<b>On September 19, the regiment was placed in line of battle. During the fighting in the morning and the afternoon, the men of the 74th Indiana had discarded their knapsacks and blankets. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“We never saw them again,”</i></span> Chamberlain remembered, and when they bivouacked that night they had no food or water, little to make themselves comfortable and were also under orders not to start fires. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Some succeeded in getting some straw. More had to sleep on the bare ground,”</i></span> Chamberlain wrote, adding that <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“[i]t was very cold…All were worn out by the terrible experiences of the day. It was a terrible, cheerless, cold, desolate, miserable night.”</i></span> (2)</b><br />
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<b>The next day, Chamberlain recalled, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“We were lying behind our hastily built breastworks, lying as flat upon the earth as we could flatten ourselves, to avoid the fire from the enemy’s musketry which was turned upon us…Every movement, or exposure invited and received a storm of bullets from the vastly superior force of the enemy in front,” </i></span>Chamberlain recalled. At this point, the regiment was sorely in need of more ammunition, and Chamberlain informed Lieutenant Colonel Baker that the 9th Indiana Infantry had a large supply of ammunition. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“He knew I was well acquainted with Company C of that regiment and asked me if I would undertake personally to go that Regiment and beg what ammunition I could and bring it back, if possible, to our Regiment. I told him I would make the effort, which I did successfully.”</i></span> (3)</b><br />
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<b>Successful, indeed: Orville T. Chamberlain earned the Medal of Honor for the feat (though it took more than thirty years to secure the award). His own words and even the official citation -</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>“While exposed to a galling fire, went in search of another regiment, found its location, procured ammunition from the men thereof, and returned with the ammunition to his own company”</b></i></span><br />
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<b>belie the danger involved. A more fitting description of the episode appeared in a family history many years later:</b><br />
<b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i>On the field of Chickamauga, the Seventy-fourth and Tenth Indiana had been lying in the outer trenches under constant fire. Five lines of Confederate Infantry were lined up against one in the trenches and the Unionists were not only outnumbered but out of ammunition. Every time one of their number raised his head, a sharpshooter sent a bullet after it. Ammunition was wanted and knowing that the Ninth Indiana, a mile and a quarter away on the firing line, had plenty, Lieutenant Chamberlain gathered all the haversacks he could secure and started on his perilous journey. The moment he rose to his feet and started, there was a fusillade of bullets fired at him as he passed down the line; but he still kept on, running low on the ground, dodging from stump to stump and boulder to boulder, crawling over open spaces like a snake and bounding like a rabbit, he finally reached the trenches of the Ninth; loaded his pockets and haversacks; arranged for a wagon-load of ammunition to follow as quickly as possible, and was off again through the rain of leaden bullets, which followed his course back to his regiment where he delivered the ammunition to his commanding officer. While he received several slight wounds, his hat was shot away and his clothing riddled, he escaped serious injury.</i> (4)</span></b><br />
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<b>Nearly a month after the battle, Orville finally had a chance to pen a short letter home. Despite the brutal autumn fighting in Georgia and Tennessee, he assured his family by writing: <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“I am still alive, and that’s saying enough to be thankful for.”</i></span> (5)</b><br />
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<b>The same sentiment could be said for all of the Notre Dame men and women serving in the war at the end of that pivotal year.</b><br />
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<b>Notes:</b><br />
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<b>(1) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to General E.A. Carman, undated (postwar), Files, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia (hereafter CCNMP).</b><br />
<b>(2) 113. Ibid</b><br />
<b>(3) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to General E.A. Carman; Letter, Orville Chamberlain to General H.V. Boynton, November 26, 1895, Files, CCNMP.</b><br />
<b>(4) Civil War Medal of Honor Citations, http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/rubin/medal/citations1.htm; Eunice M. Barber, <i>The Wright-Chamberlin Genealogy: From Emigrant Ancestors to Present Generations</i> (Binghamton, NY: Vail-Ballou Company, 1914), 62. </b><br />
<b>(5) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to Father, October 16, 1863, Chamberlain Papers, Box 1, Folder 11, Indiana Historical Society. </b><br />
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<b>***</b></div>
<b>You can read more about Orville T. Chamberlain in previous posts <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/02/above-and-beyond-call-of-duty-notre.html">here</a></span> and <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-4-1861-lincolns-inauguration.html">here</a></span> and <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-eve-1864-for-notre-dame.html">here</a></span>.</b>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-22787535051981471612013-07-01T20:00:00.002-07:002013-07-01T20:00:49.429-07:00Notre Dame at Vicksburg (and...Vicksburg at Notre Dame)! Part I<b>The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg has justly received significant attention this week but it may have taken a bot of the air out of another important anniversary: the 150th anniversary of the surrender of Confederate forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to the Union army under Ulysses S. Grant, after a nearly 50-day siege.</b><br />
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<b>In 1995, I had the great pleasure of traveling to Vicksburg National Military Park with a group that included my best friend, Curtis Fears. It was a memorable trip - seeing the battlefield, the monuments, the cemetery, the USS Cairo, and staying the night in a historic home.</b><br />
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<b>The siege and surrender of Vicksburg was also memorable for Fr. Joseph C. carrier, a priest fromthe University of Notre Dame that was serving as a chaplain with the Union army.</b><br />
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<b>You can read some introductory material about Fr. Carrier in a previous post <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-3.html">here</a></span>.</b><br />
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<b>Below is an excerpt about Fr. Carrier's experiences at Vicksburg from my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</i></span></a> (The History Press, 2010):</b><br />
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<b></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Chaplain and the Beleaguered City</b></span></div>
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<b>An Excerpt from</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><i><b>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</b></i></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>by James M. Schmidt</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fr. Joseph C. Carrier</b></td></tr>
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<b><br />Ellen Sherman, wife of William T. Sherman, asked Father Sorin to send one of his priests to her husband’s army. Her brothers, General Hugh Boyle Ewing and Captain Charles Ewing (the general’s foster brother and brother-in-law, respectively), were also in the army at Vicksburg. As devout as their sister, they had both expressed a wish to have a priest assigned to Grant’s army, which was without a Catholic chaplain in all its ranks. Father Sorin sent Father Joseph C. Carrier immediately to oblige her fervent hope that the chaplain would<span style="font-size: large;"><i> “get down there in time to prepare many a poor soul for the last dread journey.”</i></span>(1)</b><br />
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<b>The general had explained in his letter from Vicksburg to his son, Willy, at Notre dame, that a costly battle with the Confederates could be avoided if <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“their provisions will give out, for no person can get out or in Vicksburg without our consent, and if they have nothing to eat, they will starve or give up.”</i></span> Only days later, the Confederate army at Vicksburg did surrender, after a forty-seven-day siege. Father Carrier got a firsthand look at the conquered city th<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">e</span> </span>day after the surrender. He secured a souvenir—the last issue of the city’s newspaper, printed on wallpaper—which he sent to Father Sorin as <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“a memento of a beleaguered but now fallen stronghold…[to] show all future generations to what extremities the Confederates were reduced.”</i><span style="font-size: small;">(2)</span></span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>"Dugouts" in Vicksburg</b></td></tr>
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<b>Of the city, Father Carrier wrote to Father Sorin that <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“there is not one single house in the whole city which has not been more or less damaged,” </i></span>adding that <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“[it] really saddens one to see so many ruins.” </i></span>He located the Catholic church in Vicksburg, which he happily reported <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“was but slightly injured.”</i></span> Indeed, one Vicksburg citizen remembered that while the <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“soaring light spire and gold cross”</i></span> of the church was one of the most prominent features of the town, it was <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“never defaced by the fire of the enemy,”</i></span> though he was not sure <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“whether this was chance or intention.”</i></span> (Surely General Sherman did not have such “control” over cannonballs; it’s equally sure that he would not risk the ire of his devout wife or his zealous but genial chaplain by purposely aiming at the church tower!) Father Carrier met Father Henzi, the weary but friendly assistant pastor—a fellow Frenchman—who <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“had lived for fifteen days in his cellar…for fear of the shells.”</i></span>(3)</b><br />
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<b>Upon returning to camp, Father Carrier learned that the army was departing right away. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“It really had been painful for me to pull down my tents and leave my nice cozy quarters! I had become strongly attached to the place,” </i></span>Father Carrier recalled. The days-long march in the hot and humid Mississippi clime was debilitating. Absent their wagons, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“we had neither tent nor beds but we had the canopy of heaven…and the bare ground,”</i></span> Father Carrier wrote Father Sorin. Food was also scarce—<span style="font-size: large;"><i>“not a cracker to crack,” </i></span>he wrote—but Father Carrier took it all with good cheer. <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“Bah! This is for a follower of the Holy Cross a mere </i>bagatelle <i>[trifle],”</i></span> he wrote Father Sorin, adding, <span style="font-size: large;"><i>“We…resumed our march, strictly fasting, although it was neither Lent, nor ember day, nor vigil.” </i></span>The Union army chased remnants of the Confederate army out of Vicksburg and then encamped on the Big Black River.(4)</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>References:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(1) Letter, Ellen Sherman to William T. Sherman, June 8, 1863, William T. Sherman Family Papers (hereafter CSHR), 2/107, University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA).</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(2) Letter, William T. Sherman to William T. Sherman Jr., June 21, 1863, CSHR 2/170, UNDA; David P. Conyngham, “Soldiers of the Cross,” David Power Conyngham Papers (CCON), 1/08 (un-paginated typescript), UNDA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(3) Conyngham, “Soldiers of the Cross.”</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(4)Ibid.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Next: A very special letter written by Gen. William T. Sherman to his son Willy, who was then a student at Notre Dame in the minim
(elementary) program!</b></span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-78000424553256859002013-06-24T18:10:00.002-07:002013-06-24T18:10:33.626-07:00Holy Cross History in N'Awlins!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Earlier this month I had the great pleasure of attending the 32nd Annual Conference on the History of the Congregations of Holy Cross, sponsored by the <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgek/csc_hist/historyconf/history.html">Holy Cross History Association</a>,</span> in New Orleans, Louisiana.</b><br />
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<b>I've written about the great resources of the Association previously (<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/holy-cross-history-association.html">here</a></span>).</b><br />
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<b>The conference was great on many levels: I met some really nice people, heard some really interesting lectures, got to give one of my own, and got to experience New Orleans for the first time.</b><br />
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<b>I've provided a synopsis of the lectures below. </b><br />
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<b>As I have explained before, one of the great resources of the Association is that the papers given at the conferences are available for a nominal cost ($1.00). I encourage you to browse through the <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgek/csc_hist/historyconf/papers2.html">list</a></span> here (through 2011). You may find something that intersects with you own historical interests!</b><br />
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<b>This years papers included:</b><br />
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<b>"Effects of Katrina on Marianites' Property and Ministries" - Sr. Clarita Bourque, MSC</b><br />
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<b>"Edmundus" - Br. John Doran, CSC</b><br />
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<b>Holy Cross in Acadia: What You Can Do With Eight Dollars" - Fr. Paul LeBlanc, CSC</b><br />
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<b>"Holy Cross and Catholicism in the North" - Sr. Cecile Charette, CSC</b><br />
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<b>"They Did Their Duty Well: Notre Dame Student-Soldiers in the Civil War" - James M. Schmidt (me!)</b><br />
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<b>"Brother Theodolus: Reluctant Martyr of New Orleans" - Br. George Klawitter, CSC (all the lectures were terrific, but I have to say this was my favorite...it had an exceptional connection to our city of New Orleans and to the yellow fever epidemics of the 19th century, which is a special interest of mine)</b><br />
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<b>"St. Agnes School: The Jewel of Jefferson, Louisiana" - Sr. Rosemary Wessel, MSC (A story about a former speakeasy/dance hall/gambling hall turned into a church and school?!?! What's not to like?!?!)</b><br />
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<b>"Holy Cross in Central Texas and Northern Mexico" - Fr. Peter Logsdon, CSC</b><br />
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<b>"Holy Cross Religious Survive Katrina" - Br Walter Gluhm, CSC</b><br />
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<b>Next year's conference is in Notre Dame, Indiana - keep an eye here on the blog for details!</b>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-16592252043287154112013-03-14T17:13:00.000-07:002013-03-14T17:13:07.459-07:00"Notre Dame and the Civil War" - St. Patrick's Day Rafflecopter Giveaway! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuEbR4iJDJoDZ_bTAvjm46G84CasTCKAR8rYqrHzorG6_UETgqwPR2i6iaQDgO-8FNt87b2YjBL96p07YsIOHXOHvw8lPchLZnlcINrgF2ag3xriiK5SuShrMxFFfvVtL342AeL5EBIw/s1600/nd+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><b>Let's celebrate St. Patrick's Day and the "Fighting Irish" with a Rafflecopter giveaway of TWO signed copies of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</i></span></a> (The History Press)!</b><br />
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/fd69ee2/" id="rc-fd69ee2" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuEbR4iJDJoDZ_bTAvjm46G84CasTCKAR8rYqrHzorG6_UETgqwPR2i6iaQDgO-8FNt87b2YjBL96p07YsIOHXOHvw8lPchLZnlcINrgF2ag3xriiK5SuShrMxFFfvVtL342AeL5EBIw/s1600/nd+cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuEbR4iJDJoDZ_bTAvjm46G84CasTCKAR8rYqrHzorG6_UETgqwPR2i6iaQDgO-8FNt87b2YjBL96p07YsIOHXOHvw8lPchLZnlcINrgF2ag3xriiK5SuShrMxFFfvVtL342AeL5EBIw/s320/nd+cover.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-43548306697307188652013-02-01T10:57:00.000-08:002013-02-01T10:57:00.453-08:00Notre Dame, the Civil War, and...The New York Times!<b>Just so happy that I made the <i>New York Times</i> today! Well, their website, anyway :-) My article on the University of Notre Dame's student-soldiers in the Civil War was featured on the Times' wonderful "Disunion" blog. You can read the article <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/the-first-fighting-irish/#more-139538" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a>: </b><br />
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<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/the-first-fighting-irish/#more-139538" target="_blank"><img border="0" ea="true" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheXwKENE1vIecQxltGQeELncOWOzBBs9VeXYOs_iwHqcBarINJG-6NRVQBvJWHGhUF5Ene9bnEPl48HVLZEjoHdX9a9G0pf4fJCSfzyuvffpBFpizG0AdNBCnPzKCBGHlN2KI7ObKP9HE/s400/disunion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>And...if you are not already reading the <i>New York Times</i>' "<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/" target="_blank">Disunion</a>" blog then you need to start!</b></span><br />
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<b>From the Disunion website:</b><br />
<b><br /></b><i><b>One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. Disunion revisits and reconsiders America's most perilous period -- using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded.</b></i><br />
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<b>The blog is just terrific, updated almost daily, and (mostly) chronological, it features great essays on many topics, from armchair historians to esteemed academics. </b><br />
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<b>If you'd like to learn more, watch this short (13-minute) but very interesting interview with Disunion editor Clay Risen from my friends at <i>The Civil War Monitor</i>:</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZZ-3q_uJ1FU" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b>Mr. Risen was such a pleasure to work with...I hope to be making more contributions to Disunion over the next few years! </b>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-48645388661480373812011-12-04T17:46:00.000-08:002011-12-04T18:27:59.624-08:00"Michigan Historical Review" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBf-OZ9pHmFw93Xa0g3exBXARayjyp9_367Hj2UO44WY3Pu3wI3pOg3k2rV-O0HRRHKwV0faPnLlymW_w-366gA5rAhbC3wK8ymxLRJCYpepPu-gH8QwjXNwTHw_c8yc4waxRegPIqDT7/s1600/nd+cover.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBf-OZ9pHmFw93Xa0g3exBXARayjyp9_367Hj2UO44WY3Pu3wI3pOg3k2rV-O0HRRHKwV0faPnLlymW_w-366gA5rAhbC3wK8ymxLRJCYpepPu-gH8QwjXNwTHw_c8yc4waxRegPIqDT7/s400/nd+cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682460921368406626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">I want to thank the <a href="http://www.hsmichigan.org/"><span style="font-size:130%;">Historical Society of Michigan</span></a> for publishing a very kind review of my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></span></a> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010), </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">in the most recent issue (<a href="http://clarke.cmich.edu/michigan_historical_review_tab/table_of_contents/2011/fall_2011_volume_37_no_2.html">Fall 2011</a>) of their publication, <a href="http://www.hsmichigan.org/publications/michigan-historical-review/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Michigan Historical Review</span></span></a>.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpts are below.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The review was written by <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://academics.holycross.edu/history/facultyandstaff/Kuzniewski">Rev. Anthony J. Kuzniewski, S.J.</a></span>, Professor of History, <a href="http://www.holycross.edu/">College of the Holy Cross</a>, Worcester, Massachusetts.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fr. Kuzniewski is the author of several publications, including </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Fatherland-Wisconsin-1896-1918-Catholicism/dp/0268009481/"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Faith and Fatherland: The Polish Church War in Wisconsin, 1896-1918</span></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (winner of the 1973 Kosciuszko Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Award), </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.amazon.com/College-Holy-Cross-Anthony-Kuzniewski/dp/0813209110/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843-1994</span></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">, assistant editor of Waclaw Kruszka: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A History of the Poles in America to 1908</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (multivolume annotated translation of original work), articles in </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Catholic Historical Review</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Milwaukee History</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Polish American Studies</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">American National Biography</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Eerdmans' Handbook to Christianity in America</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, and in separate anthologies edited by Robert Trisco, Frank Mocha, Frank Renkiewicz, and Sally M. Miller.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"> In 2002, Fr. Kusniewski </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://www.holycross.edu/departments/publicaffairs/hcm/fall02/news/teaching_award.html">received the Holy Cross Distinguished Teaching Award</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As you can imagine, it's an honor to receive such a kind review from a distinguished professor, historian, author, and man-of-the cloth.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpts:</span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"In telling the story of Notre Dame and its role in that conflict, Schmidt makes abundant use of archival materials belonging to the university, and of those deposited with the men’s and women’s branches of the Congregation of the Holy Cross...</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"The story Schmidt relates is a dramatic one. More than one hundred students and alumni eventually participated in the Civil War...Notre Dame men were a part of virtually all of the major battles that involved the Army of the Potomac and Grant’s Army of the Tennessee...Father Edward Sorin, Notre Dame’s founder and president during the Civil War, was concerned about the large number of Irishmen and other Catholics in the Union armies and eventually supplied seven priest-chaplains...Finally, the CSC sisters, under the leadership of Mother Angela Gillespie, were staffing ten Union hospitals by the war’s end, serving heroically in challenging and often disheartening and dangerous conditions.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /><br />"</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notre Dame and the Civil War</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> is lavishly illustrated with fine portraits of participants in the war and of the monuments constructed to honor them after the conflict ended. The text abounds in quotes from primary documents, which are cited in the endnotes. They add color and life to Schmidt’s account...This useful account of Notre Dame’s participation in the Civil War will be of particular interest to alumni and supporters of the school. It will also be helpful to some future historian who may attempt to write a general account of the war’s impact on institutions of higher education."</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Thank You <span style="font-style: italic;">Michigan Historical Review </span>and Fr. </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Kusniewski!</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Read other reviews of <span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War</span> here:</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />America's Civil War </span>Magazine (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/05/harrys-just-wild-about-notre-dame-and.html">here</a>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Patrick McNamara's Blog (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/patrick-mcnamara-reviews-notre-dame-and.html">here</a>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Civil War News </span>(<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/02/civil-war-news-reviews-notre-dame-and.html">here</a>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Civil War Librarian (Rea Andrew Redd) (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/02/civil-war-librarian-reviews-notre-dame.html">here</a>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/american-catholic-reviews-notre-dame-in.html">here</a>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/confederate-book-review-interviews.html">here</a>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/irish-in-american-civil-war-reviews.html">here</a>)</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br />South Bend Tribune</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Feature (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/notre-dame-in-civil-war-featured-in.html">here</a>)</span></span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-31826020378882556572011-10-18T16:08:00.001-07:002011-10-18T16:18:01.878-07:00Meet Me in St. Louis! (at the St. Louis Civil War Round Table!)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRI9RWk15vEzO52vu70L0iUo3_pCSHBVsryIU1WVVDU-bjmwkIaAL2S3j_cdexPw4CUes8vKzmq1pA_GUkEFeer-IxAVskEhz9H5kjLr8vXeJP-fZPP_efvbn9lPOvt0H0ljWAwUX25Vvl/s1600/MeetMeInStLouis.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRI9RWk15vEzO52vu70L0iUo3_pCSHBVsryIU1WVVDU-bjmwkIaAL2S3j_cdexPw4CUes8vKzmq1pA_GUkEFeer-IxAVskEhz9H5kjLr8vXeJP-fZPP_efvbn9lPOvt0H0ljWAwUX25Vvl/s400/MeetMeInStLouis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664975277386577666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Meet Me in St. Louis!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I'll have the great privilege and pleasure of giving a presentation about my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></span></a> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010), to the <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.civilwarstlouis.org/main/">Civil War Round Table of St. Louis</a></span> (MO) on <span style="font-size:130%;">Wednesday evening, October 26, 2011</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Come and join us!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">You can learn more about the "who, what, when, where, etc." at their terrific website (<a href="http://www.civilwarstlouis.org/main/info_and_reservations">here</a>).</span></span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-60857880282965364532011-09-09T08:37:00.000-07:002011-09-10T09:44:00.702-07:00Meeting Fr. Corby's Family - Stories and Letters and Relatives<div><strong>There are a great number of joys in being a writer, especially one who writes about history (<span style="font-style: italic;">and I can assure that the money, what little of it there is, is not one of them!</span>).<br /><br />Two of my favorites are: 1) what you might call "cross-pollination": learning and sharing information with others interested in the same subject, often in ways you'd never thought of; and <span style="font-size:130%;">2) my <em>favorite </em>favorite: interactions with readers.</span></strong><strong><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">As you'll learn below, both of these joys were fulfilled this week <em>and at the same time</em> </span>when I received a kind note from a reader, made all the more special because he has a very special connection to people I have been researcing and writing about for years now. They were also kind enough to share a letter - from 1892 - that is posted below.</strong><strong><br /><br />Some background first:</strong><strong><br /><br />Anyone who has read my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></em> </a>(<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010), or is at all familiar with the school's role in the Civil War, knows that Fr. William Corby plays a large part in that story. He has been the subject of several posts on this blog (for example, </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/10/fair-catch-corby-part-ii-1910.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a>).<strong><br /><br />Just as interesting as Fr. Corby's own story is that of other members of his family, which are also closely connected with the University of Notre Dame, St. Mary's Academy, and the Congregation of the Holy Cross:</strong><strong><br /><br />Fr. Corby was the son of Daniel Corby (1798-1875). A native of Ireland, Daniel arrived in North America at the age of 24. He first landed in Quebec and proceeded to Montreal where he met and married Miss Elizabeth Stapleton. Two years later he moved his young family to Detroit, where he became very successful in the real estate business. He was very notable in Catholic circles of Michigan and Detroit where he supported the construction of hospitals and churches.<br /><br />A memorial article in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Michigan Catholic</span> in 1886 declared that <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"there was not a charitable work commenced in his lifetime that he did not aid generously and continuously."</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>The <span style="font-style: italic;">Michigan Catholic</span> article also noted some details of his family life:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"His life was not without affliction and trials. </span></span></strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong style="font-style: italic;">Five of his children were carried to the tomb in early years</strong></span><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">; his wife who shared his early struggles and who bore him a large family died in 1842. He remarried in 1844 Margaret, widow of John Walters, sister of General John McManman, now deceased. Of his children, two are in the religious state. His eldest daughter is Sister Mary Ambrose of the Convent of St. Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Ind. His eldest son is a distinguished ecclesiastic, Rev. W. Corby, C.S.C., of Notre Dame University, of which institution he is an ex-President...Michael T. Corby, A.M., resident of Chicago; John and Thomas, his remaining sons, reside at Connor's Creek. His daughters, Teresa, wife of Cornelius Corbett, Supt. of the W. U. Telegraph Co., and Miss Minnie Corby, are residents of Detroit."</span></span><br /><br />Daniel Corby was especially associated with two churches in Detroit: St. Mary's and St. Joseph's (a "daughter" church of St. Mary's). Indeed, Daniel was referred to in the Michigan catholic article as <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"the fiscal agent of St. Joseph, for he cashed the many drafts of this saint, so frequently appealed to, with a liberality unparalleled."</span></span></strong><strong><br /><br />St. Joseph's parish in Detroit has a wonderful website (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://saint-joseph-detroit.org/">here</a></span>), with an equally wonderful and interesting section (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://saint-joseph-detroit.org/History.html">here</a></span>), where I learned in the parish's <a href="http://saint-joseph-detroit.org/HistoryCorner.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">"History Corner"</span></a> that <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Some of [Daniel Corby's] 12 children became parishioners then and some of his descendants are still members of St. Joseph Church today."</span></span><br /><br />You can imagine how excited and honored I was that <span style="font-size:130%;">Mr. Patrick Degens</span> - <span style="font-size:130%;">one of the descendants of Daniel Corby and author of the</span><a href="http://saint-joseph-detroit.org/HistoryCorner.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"> "History Corner"</span></a> - sent me the following e-mail in the past few days:</strong><br /></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"I had to buy your book when I saw the frontice page on </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://irishcatholichumanist.blogspot.com/">"McNamara's Blog"</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> (note; you can see Patrick McNamara's kind review of my book </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://irishcatholichumanist.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-notre-dame-and-civil-war.html">here</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">) . <span style="font-size:130%;">My great grand uncle was Father William Corby.</span>"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WOW! Patrick goes on to relate some wonderful family stories and history related to Fr. Corby and his extended family:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">"My father was the youngest of 16 children, He was born in 1895. One of his older sisters lived with us when I was growing up and <span style="font-size:130%;">she remembered Father Corby when he came to Detroit to visit the family when she was a very small girl. She said he asked her if she knew who he was and she answered that she did. When he said, 'Who am I?' She told me she said; 'God.' </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">She added that she was very small."</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />What a wonderful story, and it undoubtedly warmed the heart of Fr. Corby, known widely for his geniality and humor.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mr. Degens continued:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"My grandmother attended St. Marys Academy at South Bend when Father Corby's sister was the head mistress there, Mother Ambrose. I have a letter that she wrote to my grandmother that came with a large box of muslin she had sent to my grandmother for making sheets. She asked for prayers from all the children for herself. It was a very touching letter. <span style="font-size:130%;">My grandmother was invited to Notre Dame for the dedication of the statue there of Father Corby. She went by train and attended the ceremonies.</span> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">I never knew any of my grandparents as they had all passed before I was born."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In a later e-mail, Patrick kindly shared the content of that letter from Sr. Mary Ambrose, with the following notes on his family:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"My grandmother was the daughter of Thomas McManman and Elizabeth Corby McManman (1826-1874). Elizabeth was the first born child of Daniel Corby (1798-1875) and Elizabeth Stapleton Corby (1808-1842), also Father William (1833-1897) Corby's parents. Their sister, Mary Agnes (b.1829) became a Holy Cross nun taking the name of Sister Mary Ambrose. The following is a letter she wrote to my grandmother Elizabeth McManman Degens (1854-1934). </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Note that in the letter below, Winnie was a half sister to Father William and Sister Ambrose</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">And now for the letter:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">St. Joseph Academy</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">South Bend - Ind</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">June 5, 1892</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">My Dear Libbie,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I have been promising myself the pleasure of answering Your letter - written after your visit - and will devote My free time this after noon in discharging this pleasant duty. Your visit was a real treat. Only too short. If I had you and Winnie back after you had gone I would not let you go until after Easter. I felt very lonely after you left. I was glad that you enjoyed your trip to Chicago and that yourself and Michael had the pleasure of meeting. Michael enjoyed the visit very much and so did Father.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I received your postal. Was sorry to hear that you had been ill, but hope that you are better. Were the things I sent of any use to you did you make the sheets and pillow covers? How is Winnie, did she leave the Wayace - I would like to know her address as I wish to write her. You Detroit people are not very generous about letters we have to be satisfied with one in a year in some cases three and five years.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The school year is fast drawing to a close, in less than three weeks we will be free and be assured that I am very glad. We will close the house and all go to St. Marys for the vacation. Our retreat will take place the 2d of July and the Priests retreat on the 9th. We will depend on your good prayers for us during that time. I have great faith in the prayers of Children. Have your little Children say a Hail Mary every day from the 2d to the 14th of July. What consolation our holy Religion gives us. We can ever be united in God by means of prayer and obtaining from each other the countless blessings. The month of Our Blessed Mother is over. The Devotion was observed in all the churches. The May processions were very fine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I was at St. Mary's for the Dedication of St. Angela's Hall and the Closing of the Month of May. There were eight Priests from Notre Dame. Father Corby preached, the procession was grand Two hundred Pupils and about two hundred and fifty Sisters.</span><br /><br />Has there been any rain in Michigan. There has been constant rain here for five weeks. It is clear today and be assured we enjoy the sunshine. I am anxious to hear from you and to know how Winnie is. Love also to the Children from me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Remember in your prayers</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Your Affectionate</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sister M Ambrose</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Thank you, Mr. Degens; it was an honor and a privilege to hear from you!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">As if that wasn't enough: in another twist, Patrick also shared:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"My cousin John Carey, also a Corby descendant, writes the History Column for the Washington Times and he also represents Father Corby at the annual gathering at Gettysburg. He is retired from a career in the Navy. His grandfather was Father Corby's brother, Tom. Actually his half brother. Another kindred spirit in the world of history."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Kindred spirits, indeed!<br /><br /></span>As it turns out, not knowing that Patrick and John were related, John Carey had corresponded with me earlier this spring and summer. John is graduate of Notre Dame (1976) and a Commander, United States Navy (Ret.). You can find some of his past Washington Times history pieces as well as other writing at his <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://civilwarstoriesofinspiration.wordpress.com/">"Civil War Stories of Inspiration"</a></span> blog <a href="http://civilwarstoriesofinspiration.wordpress.com/">here</a>.<br /><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is it any wonder that this is my FAVORITE part of writing?</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><div></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-46118623030957424762011-07-12T13:07:00.000-07:002011-07-12T13:25:48.623-07:00Notre Dame Chaplain Profiles #5 and #6 - Frs. Bourget and Leveque<strong>I'm pleased to add another installment introducing the Holy Cross priests from the University of Notre Dame who served as chaplains in the Civil War.</strong>
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<br /><strong>See these posts for previous profiles:</strong>
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<br /><strong>#1 = Fr. Paul E. Gillen, CSC (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/02/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-1.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
<br /><strong>#2 = Fr. Peter P. Cooney, CSC (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/05/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-2.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
<br /><strong>#3 = Fr. Joseph C. Carrier, CSC (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-3.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
<br /><strong>#4 = Fr. James M. Dillon (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-4.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
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<br /><strong>Recall that Fr. James Dillon died shortly after the Civil War, in no small part from the privations of serving as a chaplain...Below is an excerpt from my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></em> </a>(<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010) describing some of the life and ministry of Fr. Zepherin Joseph Leveque and Fr. Julian Prosper Bourget, as a chaplain in the Union army. Unfortunately, we do not know as much as Frs. Leveque and Bourget as the other chaplains, but they still deserve to be remembered. </strong>
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<br /><strong>Unlike the other Notre Dame priests who served as chaplains, Frs. Leveque and Bourget were assigned to hospital duty and not to a particular regiment...sadly, both men died during the Civil War while serving as chaplains. May they rest in peace.</strong>
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<br /><em><span style="font-size:130%;">In 1861, Father Sorin kept good his promise to send another priest to minister to the Catholic troops; that priest was Father Zepherin Joseph Lévêque, a Canadian by birth. While as zealous as the other Holy Cross priests from Notre Dame, Father Lévêque was also sickly and did not serve for long. On February 13, 1862—just a few months after arriving—he fell ill and died while visiting a fellow priest in New Jersey. Father Lévêque did not seem to have a commission with a particular regiment, although an obituary in the New York Herald stated that “the members of Company K, Twelfth Regiment, New York State Militia” were invited to attend the funeral. (1)</span></em>
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<br /><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Another priest, Father Julian Prosper Bourget, had come to Notre Dame from the Holy Cross Mother House in France in early 1862. At Father Sorin’s suggestion, Father Bourget left for the military hospital at Mound City, Illinois, where he cared for many wounded and dying soldiers. </span></em><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Unfortunately, his stay—like Father Lévêque’s—was not long. Father Bourget contracted malaria and died at the hospital on June 12, 1862.</span></em>
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<br />Note:
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<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(1) “Obituary of Rev. J.M.Z. Leveque,” <em>New York Herald</em> clipping, February14, 1862, Lévêque File, Indiana Province Archives Center, Congregation of the HolyCross, Notre Dame, Indiana (IPAC)</span></strong>
<br /></strong>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-89305399034259045232011-07-06T17:01:00.000-07:002011-07-06T18:15:36.966-07:00College Life in the 1860s - Part II<span style="font-weight: bold;">One of the challenges of being a Civil War "enthusiast" is that, well...there's a lot about which to be "enthused" because the subject crosses so many areas of interest</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In doing background research for my most recent book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></span></a> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010), I did some background reading on the history of other colleges in the Civil War and it has become an abiding interest.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of my favorite books during that research was Willis Rudy's </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Campus and a Nation in Crisis: From the American Revolution to Vietnam</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (Madison, NJ: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996).</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />I've also posted on a few other colleges that are taking advantage of the Civil War Sesquicentennial to commemorate their contributions during the Civil War:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hobart College (Geneva, NY) (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/04/these-disastrous-times-hobart-college.html">here</a></span>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">University of Pennsylvania (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/penn-quakers-celebrate-their-civil-war.html">here</a></span>)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Of course there are many more...if you are aware of other good websites describing the experiences of institutions of higher education during the Civil War, let me know, and I'll happily post about them here!</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Adding to that body of knowledge is a terrific new (April 2011) softcover (unillustrated) re-issue of a 2004 hardcover (illustrated) by Robert F. Pace, Ph.D.:<br /><br /></span> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Halls-Honor-College-Men-South/dp/0807138711/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HALLS OF HONOR: COLLEGE MEN IN THE OLD SOUTH </span></a></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I want to thank the kind folks at the <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/">Louisiana State University Press</a></span> for sending me a review copy!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >I recently finished the book and I can give it an unabashed A+!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp_QV2076ZEme8r99g_DfCew7wZwpys-c7vg50tR79qbb8qpinAQj-GqM_KW60pWKePoV-P8YCNLdnBzXsFJeUxPVixpiQNN17-eycj5O6yuU8a3ilj9i2zejxuaX_uBmI8OU4IrzGzmz/s1600/51TbdPhBamL._SL500_AA300_.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp_QV2076ZEme8r99g_DfCew7wZwpys-c7vg50tR79qbb8qpinAQj-GqM_KW60pWKePoV-P8YCNLdnBzXsFJeUxPVixpiQNN17-eycj5O6yuU8a3ilj9i2zejxuaX_uBmI8OU4IrzGzmz/s400/51TbdPhBamL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626411881386427490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">From the publisher's <a href="http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/bookPages/9780807129821.html">website</a>:</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">A powerful confluence of youthful energies and entrenched codes of honor enlivens Robert F. Pace's look at the world of male student college life in the antebellum South. Through extensive research into records, letters, and diaries of students and faculty from more than twenty institutions, Pace creates a vivid portrait of adolescent rebelliousness struggling with the ethic to cultivate a public face of industry, respect, and honesty. These future leaders confronted authority figures, made friends, studied, courted, frolicked, drank, gambled, cheated, and dueled–all within the established traditions of their southern culture.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">For the sons of southern gentry, college life presented a variety of challenges, including engaging with northern professors and adjusting to living away from home and family. The young men extended the usual view of higher education as a bridge between childhood and adulthood, innovatively creating their own world of honor that prepared them for living in the larger southern society. Failure to obtain a good education was a grievous breach of honor for them, and Pace skillfully weaves together stories of student antics, trials, and triumphs within the broader male ethos of the Old South. When the Civil War erupted, many students left campus to become soldiers, defend their families, and preserve a way of life. By war's end, the code of honor had waned, changing the culture of southern colleges and universities forever.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Halls of Honor</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> represents a significant update of E. Merton Coulter's 1928 classic work, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">College Life in the Old South</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">, which focused on the University of Georgia. Pace's lively study will widen the discussion of antebellum southern college life for decades to come. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There is a LOT to recommend this book to readers:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">1) It's relatively short (117 pages of main text; 27 pages of Notes/Bibliography; index) and <span style="font-style: italic;">that's a good thing</span>!</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">As one of my favorite historians and writers, Jason Emerson, has declared: <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"the publication of short books and monographs has lessened extensively in recent years...the page count of a work should have no impact on its overall historical, literary, or pedagogical value."</span></span> Indeed! Dr. Pace packs a lot of information into this short book and yet is supported by an impressive amount of scholarship. (You can learn more about Mr. Emerson in another post, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://civilwarmed.blogspot.com/2009/03/lincoln-inventor-part-i-terrific-new.html">here</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2) Dr. Pace mined nearly a hundred collections of letters, papers, and diaries at several institutions...readers will be impressed - and perhaps surprised - at how much extant primary material there is representing first-hand accounts of antebellum college life in the South...graduates of the following institutions will be especially gratified at how much attention they get in the book, among more than twenty colleges that are mentioned throughout: <span style="font-size:130%;">University of North Carolina</span>, <span style="font-size:130%;">University of Virginia</span>, <span style="font-size:130%;">University of Alabama</span>, and <span style="font-size:130%;">Hampden-Sidney College</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3) In the first chapter, Dr. Pace discusses <span style="font-size:130%;">academic life at the institutions, including faculty, curriculum, cheating, and commencement</span>.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">This included the choice of whether or not to even attend college: it wasn't necessary for most professions, but Dr. Pace argues that for Southern adolescents and families it was a matter of honor...this honor and distinction also applied to what college the young man attended, so that attending a "second-rate" school could bring shame on a family.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">One of the more interesting discussions in the book is on cheating...as it turns out, it was more important to cheat and pass and graduate, than to skip cheating but fail.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4) In the second chapter, the author describes <span style="font-size:130%;">campus life, including accommodations, noise, clothing, fire, pests, heating, illness, and dining</span>.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">One of the most interesting discussions in this chapter was a description of the institution of slavery on college campuses in the antebellum South, including the use of servants as part of tuition as well as brutality against the slaves.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5) In the third chapter - easily the most entertaining - Dr. Pace describes <span style="font-size:130%;">"Sowing Oats and Growing Up" including amusements, entertainment and relationships</span>.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr. Pace describes the prevalence of drinking alcohol among the young men - or "getting tight" as it was called back in the day.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Social fraternities - especially literary societies - were also very popular and intense rivalries grew amongst competing societies on several campuses.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The most interesting part of this chapter was Dr. Pace's description of the pursuit and courting of females by male college students in the Old South.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6) In the fourth chapter, Dr. Pace discusses <span style="font-size:130%;">"Honor and Violence" including rules, pranks, riots, guns, and duels</span>.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr. Pace describes how college administrators struggled with student conduct, some of it whimsical and some of it deadly, either purposefully or accidentally.<br /><br />7) In the fifth and final chapter, Dr. Pace discusses "College Life and the Civil War." This includes secessionist <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> (most interesting!) Unionist sentiment among students and faculty, on-campus militia units, enlistments among the student body, financial challenges faced by the colleges during the war and - finally - how the war changed Southern college life forever.<br /><br />8) The MOST IMPRESSIVE aspect of this book is the extensive use of first-hand accounts of students throughout, based on his use of period letters and diaries.<br /><br />If I have any criticisms, they are few:<br /><br />A) Some academic works can be flawed in that an sometimes artificial "meme" is forced on the book...in this case, Dr. Pace sometimes spends words in "forcing" a theme of a Southern "Code of Honor" to describe the students' behaviors and expectations. Rarely did the students' own words bear this out, though.<br /><br />B) Somewhat related: I've done enough reading of college life in the North during this same era to wonder whether Dr. Pace was successfully able to describe a distinctly Southern "way" of college life as there are just so many similarities.<br /><br />These are minor quibbles, however, and they do not detract from this EXCELLENT book!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!</span><br /><br />Thank You, <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress">LSU Press</a></span>!<br /></span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-74245720245225135172011-07-05T11:43:00.000-07:002011-07-06T13:55:12.114-07:00College Life in the 1860s - Part I<div>
<br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_I7XDnv7eWsrbJ0fotXEUDqz48iXDhdB7eAnprezgzcmfU51C5ylBlhA3C-DHB4p1JTiYqwSI_xKaNHKC9mGOyYrLKDc4f12gL5aVcWiQOKJZk26fI08vHIgQt7OOQRIGRgalipxueHww/s1600/campus.JPG"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJg0IH_ih3T6-qVXztg35SLbCmHNJSQxlFipEu_1hoDuNmwnJx7ZtZdMPfpIcIgMA0SQaoXzYc-yRajnsU3_IMpGE8v0531E-dLvvCvR7Dykb-JcQxXkADydIkKTXznrTCNqEdIM3fGbBF/s1600/campus2.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626345631173246466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJg0IH_ih3T6-qVXztg35SLbCmHNJSQxlFipEu_1hoDuNmwnJx7ZtZdMPfpIcIgMA0SQaoXzYc-yRajnsU3_IMpGE8v0531E-dLvvCvR7Dykb-JcQxXkADydIkKTXznrTCNqEdIM3fGbBF/s320/campus2.JPG" /></a>"Life started every morning at half past five during my four years </em>[at Notre Dame]<em>, but since then I have forgotten all about the rising sun."</em></span> - James McCormack, Notre Dame student, 1863-67</strong>
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<br /><strong>I recently had the pleasure of reading a terrific book - <em><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Halls-Honor-College-Men-South/dp/0807138711/">Halls of Honor: College Men in the Old South</a></span></em> by Robert F. Pace (Louisiana State University Press, 2011 softcover reprint of the 2004 hardcover) - after receiving a review copy from the GREAT team at <a href="http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/">LSU Press</a>.</strong>
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<br /><strong>I am going to post a review of the book here in the next day or so...in advance of that, though, I thought I'd post an excerpt from my book <em><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</a></span></em> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010) that "dovetails" nicely with Dr. Pace's <em>Halls of Honor</em>, in that it describes college life at Notre Dame in the 1860s, away from the battlefields.</strong>
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<br /><strong>In fact, I have posted a few previous items about 1860s college life at Notre Dame, including:</strong>
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<br /><strong>Student Body at Notre Dame in the 1860s (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/11/where-do-fighting-irish-come-from.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
<br /><strong><strong>Wartime Fisticuffs on Campus at Notre Dame (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/01/fisticuffs-at-notre-dame-and-st-marys.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong></strong>
<br /><strong><strong><strong>Early Military Training at Notre Dame (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-kind-of-training-aaaaaaaaarmy.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong></strong></strong>
<br /><strong><strong>School Year Holidays at Notre Dame in the 1860s (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/02/notre-dame-school-year-holidays-during_28.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong></strong>
<br /><strong>Lincoln's Inauguration - A Letter from Notre Dame (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-4-1861-lincolns-inauguration.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
<br /><strong>The reaction to the firing on Ft. Sumter (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-days-of-civil-war-at-notre-dame.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong> and </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-days-of-civil-war-at-notre-dame_19.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>1865 Commencement Excercises at Notre Dame (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/12/perform-bravely-battle-of-life-william.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong> </strong>
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<br /><strong>Below is an excerpt from <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/11/where-do-fighting-irish-come-from.html"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Notre Dame and the Civil War</span></em> </a>that includes some additional <span style="font-size:130%;">great first-person accounts of life as a student there in the 1860s.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">Enjoy!</span></strong>
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<br /><strong>Historians can thank James McCormack for leaving one of the best descriptions of student life at Notre Dame during the war years. <span style="font-size:130%;"><em>“My first semester at Notre Dame all furnishings were very simple, really crude,”</em></span> he recalled, adding that <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“the real improvements took place during the second semester. Steam heat superseded wood fires, as no coal was used in that section. All the rooms and halls had individual stoves and it took the time of one Brother to keep the fires alive.”</span></em> (1)</strong>
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<br /><strong>Indeed, Father Sorin wrote that directly because of the war, <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“laborers became so scarce that it was hard to find men to cut fire wood”</span></em> and that the school’s council found itself <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“face to face with the almost impossible task of obtaining the amount of wood necessary for the winter, which had already set in.”</span></em> After the <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“most serious deliberation,”</span></em> the council resolved to introduce steam heating (as had already been done at St. Mary’s). It was already November, and <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“there was not a day to spare,”</span></em> Father Sorin continued, adding that <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“the work was urged forward with all possible haste, and by Christmas the college was heated satisfactorily and economically.”</span></em> (2)</strong>
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<br /><strong>James McCormack also remembered improvements in the sleeping arrangements:</strong>
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<br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Cotton mattresses were introduced to take the place of ticking stuffed with straw or corn shucks. From then on the boys snored louder and longer. The students seemed happier, as they felt Notre Dame was considering their comfort as well as their education. Better living conditions brought about an increase of students each year during my time at Notre Dame so that beds had to be put in the galleries of Washington Hall to take care of the overflow. (3)</span></em></strong>
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<br /><strong>As a new soldier, Orville T. Chamberlain recalled the crowded conditions during his school days, writing in late August 1862 that his unit had <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“marched through [Louisville] to a house where we stayed overnight. A thousand men in one room is worse than the dormitories at Notre Dame.”</span></em> (4)</strong>
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<br /><strong>Of a typical day as a student, McCormack recalled:</strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><em>Wednesday was the recreation day instead of Saturday. Life started every morning at half past five during my four years, but since then I have forgotten all about the rising sun. We went to Mass on Wednesday mornings—that was the only required church attendance during the week. The real work of the day started with a study hour at six o’clock, breakfast at seven, dinner at twelve and supper at six p.m. We returned to the study hall at seven and at eight we retired after a very short day that began at five thirty a.m. So far as living was concerned, the boys never had reason to complain. The food was plain, but bountifully served. We had the usual supply of turkey and mincepie on holidays—in fact, I can still taste the delicious pies and breadmade by the good Sisters of the Holy Cross.</em></span> (5)</strong>
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<br /><strong>Orville Chamberlain agreed with McCormack on the quality of the table fare, writing home before the war: <span style="font-size:130%;"><em>“Our diet here is not luxurious, unless you think ‘luxurious’ to be derived from the Latin </em>lux<em> and make it partake of its original signification</em> [“light”]; <em>still we are in no danger of starvation, and they get up pretty good dinners.”</em></span> Of church attendance, Orville grumbled that “[w]e have to attend…a great deal here” but admitted that the previous week’s sermon had “suited me exactly.” (6)</strong>
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<br /><strong>McCormack might be forgiven for his dubious recollection that <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“the boys never saw South Bend except on arriving and departing from Notre Dame.”</span></em> To be sure, Father Sorin did everything possible to keep his students from town; if they had to go for a purchase or other business, they were required to be in the company of a prefect. Still, unauthorized forays did happen, especially to imbibe at South Bend taverns. One school history notes: <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“There is hardly a page of the disciplinary record on which it is not written…‘this student, arrested for intoxication and lodged in the South Bend jail, was sent home.’”</span></em> Father Sorin placed notices in the local papers asking the citizens to report any serious misbehavior. (7)</strong>
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<br /><strong>NOTES:</strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(1) James M. McCormack, typewritten essay of Notre Dame life during the Civil War and after, 1863–67, Notre Dame Student Collection (CNDS), 7/15, Archives of the University of Notre Dame (UNDA).</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(2) Edward Sorin, CSC, <em>The Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac</em>, trans. William Toohey, ed. James T. Connelly (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 285–86.</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(3) McCormack, typewritten essay</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(4) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to Joseph Chamberlain, August 23,1862, Chamberlain Papers, Box 1, Folder 8, Indiana Historical Society (IHS)</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(5) McCormack, typewritten essay.</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(6) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to “Friends,” March 4, 1861,Chamberlain Papers, Box 1, Folder 8, IHS.</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(7) McCormack, typewritten essay; Arthur J. Hope, <em>Notre Dame: One Hundred Years</em> (Notre Dame, IN:University Press, 1948), 103.</span></strong> </div></div>
<br />Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-61572606770860051422011-06-21T18:40:00.000-07:002011-06-21T19:12:05.995-07:00Radio Interview About "Notre Dame and the Civil War"<span style="font-weight: bold;">I had the great privilege and pleasure of speaking with <span style="font-size:130%;">Mrs. Madeline Johnson</span> about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></span></a> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010) and other interesting topics on her radio program, <a href="http://www.archgh.org/default/communications/RadioPrograms-REV-100109.pdf"><span style="font-size:130%;">"Life to the Full,"</span></a> sponsored by the <a href="http://www.archgh.org/default.asp?id=480"><span style="font-size:130%;">Radio Ministry</span></a> of the <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.archgh.org/">Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston</a> (TX)</span>.<br /><br />The program aired on Sunday, 19 June 2011, and Mrs. Johmson kindly extended permission for me to share the audio (15 minutes), embedded in the YouTube video below (note that this is an audio clip only, with an image of the book's cover as a video "placeholder.")<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Enjoy and Thank You for listening! (<span style="font-style: italic;">and special thanks to the incomparable Madeline Johnson!</span>)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9MkwW75B7Gw?hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9MkwW75B7Gw?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /></span></span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-25199486186756481712011-06-15T14:20:00.001-07:002011-06-15T16:10:08.561-07:00Swaddled in History! (The Multi-Generation Story of My Baptismal Clothes)<div><strong>I've had the great privilege of being interviewed by bloggers Donald Thompson (<a href="http://www.18thmass.com/blog/index.php?itemid=879"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://www.18thmass.com/blog/index.php?itemid=880"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>) and Robert Redd (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/confederate-book-review-interviews.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>) in which I was able to explain from whence my interest in history, generally, and Civil War history, especially, come.</strong><strong><br /><br />I was pondering lately, though, why I would have more than an interest it, and rather a <em>passion</em>.</strong><strong><br /><br />Perhaps it's because I was <span style="font-style: italic;">literally</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">"swaddled in history"</span> almost from birth as witnessed in the clipping below from the <span style="font-size:130%;">June 16, 1964</span> edition of the <em>Hays</em> (KS) <em>Daily News</em>:</strong><br /></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQ4xRsJdgD625HIf-HnwxITb2hLJy7h9dvwkoC4rLrdY-jCgkDwzVmnfV0lvlVmpw66r8kq2_VzDs3syjLBIrMTfpPsVOSlW8FD5gl6Lz3pQ8Gs0JXsLbr3wo6Ash0Ec0tymRLWHH5qAP/s1600/hays+daily.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 138px; float: left; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618560843936408162" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQ4xRsJdgD625HIf-HnwxITb2hLJy7h9dvwkoC4rLrdY-jCgkDwzVmnfV0lvlVmpw66r8kq2_VzDs3syjLBIrMTfpPsVOSlW8FD5gl6Lz3pQ8Gs0JXsLbr3wo6Ash0Ec0tymRLWHH5qAP/s400/hays+daily.JPG" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Off and On Main Street</span></strong><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">By L. M.</span></strong><br /></div><br /><div><strong>It is too bad this baby was unaware of the distinction which surrounded his baptism but he will doubtless be reminded of it many times when he reaches the age of understanding for it is a set of most unusual circumstances which will be of interest to readers in this area.</strong><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />James Michael Schmidt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Terrance C. Schmidt was baptized at Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Topeka on May 31. Grandparents of the baby are Mr. and Mrs. Alvin M.Weigel of Pratt and Mr. and Mrs. Elmer C. Schmidt of Hays.</span></strong><br /></div><br /><div></div><strong>For his baptism James wore a hand crocheted cap which had been <span style="font-size:130%;">worn by four generations</span> and a hand sewn dress which had been <span style="font-size:130%;">worn by three generations</span> of his family. The cap was first worn by James F. Giebler of Severin, 72 years ago at his baptism on July 10. The dress was made by Mrs. James F. Giebler and will be 49 years old in August. It was first worn by their eldest daughter. The cap and dress have been worn a tbaptisms by twelve children, 39 grandchildren and one great-grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Giebler and it has been worn in Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida and many parts of Kansas.</strong><br /><br /><div></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>The four generations wearing the cap are: James F. Giebler, maternal great grandfather, Mrs. Alvin Weigel of Pratt, maternal grandmother ,Mrs. Terrance C. Schmidt of Topeka, mother, and James Michael, son of Mrs. Schmidt.</strong></span><br /><br /><div><strong></strong></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>So, there you go! Maybe <em>that's </em>where I get my passion for history!</strong></span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Do some quick math and you'll see that the cap is now 119 years old and the gown is now 96 years old!</span></strong><br /><br /><div><strong></strong></div><strong>The cap and gown are still in our family...my daughter was the <em><span style="font-size:130%;">fifth</span></em> generation to wear it, in 1986!</strong>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-5844857570410197222011-06-10T11:09:00.000-07:002011-06-10T14:08:29.832-07:00Notre Dame's Civil War "Roll of Honor" - James E. Taylor - With Sword *and* Brush<strong>As I have mentioned in previous posts and in the Preface of my book, <em><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790">Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</a></span></em> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010), I have a long-term goal of cataloging and researching Notre Dame's Civil War student-soldiers.</strong>
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<br /><strong>You can find an initial list <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/06/roll-of-honor-cataloging-notre-dames.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>.</strong>
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<br /><strong>My previous student-soldier profiles are listed below:</strong>
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<br /><strong>Cassius M. Brelsford - 113th Illinois Infantry (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/notre-dames-civil-war-roll-of-honor.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>)</strong>
<br /><strong>John C. Lonergan - 58th Illinois Infantry (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/02/notre-dames-civil-war-roll-of-honor.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>Timothy E. Howard - 12th Michigan Infantry (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/11/notre-dames-civil-war-student-soldier.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>Frank Baldwin - 44th Indiana Infantry (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2009/12/his-last-full-measure-notre-dame.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong> and </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/notre-dame-at-battle-of-stones-river_30.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>Felix Zeringue - 30th Louisiana Infantry (CSA) (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-golden-domer-is-also-johnny-reb.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>Michael Quinlan - 27th Virginia Infantry (CSA) (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-golden-domer-is-also-johnny-reb.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong> and </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/01/notre-dame-students-fighting-for-rebs.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>Thomas E. Lonergan - 90th Illinois Infantry (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/06/addition-to-notre-dames-civil-war-roll.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong>
<br /><strong>Orville T. Chamberlain - 74th Indiana Infantry (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/02/above-and-beyond-call-of-duty-notre.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong> and </strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-eve-1864-for-notre-dame.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>)</strong> </strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><em>There are many more profiles to come! </em></span></strong>
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<br /><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2uJfz5cRRWUfAJu7Qnx9BL-2Is-22ytvVy8h5hgsqXPWGDBHN7FWOMhE8ruP1RrjUIFeCTUIg16EVEbIvHSboXnp1jAL8ViP7w6yjYAch4zzyq7s26bvDIPUUP5l7sBj0CbrGnONotTL/s1600/taykorportrait.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 216px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616693782732122850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2uJfz5cRRWUfAJu7Qnx9BL-2Is-22ytvVy8h5hgsqXPWGDBHN7FWOMhE8ruP1RrjUIFeCTUIg16EVEbIvHSboXnp1jAL8ViP7w6yjYAch4zzyq7s26bvDIPUUP5l7sBj0CbrGnONotTL/s400/taykorportrait.jpg" /></a>Today's post introduces readers to another Notre Dame Civil War student-soldier - <span style="font-size:130%;">James E. Taylor</span>, 10th New York Infantry, although he is probably better known for his paint brush and charcoal pencil than his soldiering!</strong>
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<br /><strong>Taylor was born in 1839 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, a blacksmith, died when James was only seven, and his mother turned to sewing and boarding tenants to make ends meet. A few years later, she moved the family to northwestern Indiana, and James and his brother Richard both attended Notre Dame from 1850 to 1851. They returned to Cincinnati, and James—only twelve years old—helped the family by working various odd jobs. His passion, though, was in the arts, having shown a talent for drawing and painting at an early age. Indeed, he lost many a job because <span style="font-size:130%;"><em>“his employers would catch him drawing when he should have been working,”</em></span> one Taylor biographer declared.</strong>
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<br /><strong>At the age of fourteen, Taylor submitted some drawings to Nicholas Longworth, a vintner and real estate tycoon and patron of the arts in Cincinnati. Mr. Longworth, impressed with the boy’s work, sent him to an art academy in the city, where Taylor, according to his autobiography<em><span style="font-size:130%;">,“mastered the rudiments of drawing which have since stood [me] in such good stead.”</span></em> Taylor became famous in the region for his panoramas of the American Revolution and the John Brown raid; noted orator Reverend Henry Bellows admired the paintings and brought Taylor to New York to study art. A year later, the Civil War began, and as Taylor wrote, he <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“laid down the brush…and shouldering his gun at his Country’s Call went to the Front”</span></em> with the 10th New York Volunteer Infantry.</strong>
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<br /><strong>Taylor mustered out as a sergeant at the end of his two years’ service<em><span style="font-size:130%;">,“through which Ordeal he passed Unscathed owing to fortuitous Circumstances,”</span></em> he wrote. In his spare time, he had created a portfolio of sketches of camp life, and rather than reenlist, he showed the sketches to Frank Leslie, publisher of the popular weekly <em>Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper</em>. Taylor spent the rest of the war as a “special artist” for Leslie,who counseled Taylor to pay attention to every detail, <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“even sticks, stones and stumps…regardless of flying bullet and shell.”</span></em> Taylor soon became one of America’s best-known artists, and he worked for Leslie for another twenty years before retiring to his studio, where he did freelance work until he died in 1901.</strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Note: All quotes are from Oliver Jensen, “War Correspondent: 1864,” <em>American Heritage</em> 31, No. 5 (August–September 1980): 48–64. You can read the full text of the article </span><a href="http://www.americanheritage.com/content/war-correspondent-1864"><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong>The premiere source on James E. Taylor - indeed perhaps the most detailed account of wartime life and work of any "special artist" - is Taylor's With Sheridan Up the Shenandoah Valley in 1864: Leaves from a Special Artist's Sketch Book and Diary, which remained unpublished and held by the <a href="http://www.wrhs.org/"><span style="font-size:130%;">Western Reserve Historical Society</span></a> (Ohio), until being released by Morningside Press in 1989 (in a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sheridan-Shenandoah-Valley-1864-Publication/dp/0911704426">hard-to-find edition</a>).</strong>
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<br /><strong>You can also learn more about Taylor at the Smithsonian's online <span style="font-size:130%;">"Drawing the Western Frontier: The James E. Taylor Album"</span> exhibit (<a href="http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/taylor/"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>).</strong>
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<br /><strong>See <a href="http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/military/zouaves.htm">here</a> for a WONDERFUL image of Taylor in a Zouave uniform as part of the 10th New York (Michael J. McAfee Collection)</strong>
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<br /><strong>Taylor Portrait (Smithsonian) (above)</strong>
<br /><strong>Example of Taylor Art (below)</strong>
<br /><strong>Obituary - <em>New York Times</em> - June 23, 1901 (below)</strong>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwGswBkabv30I4P0oG2Vz1Xy6QCuDgJlzw5CBFC-hX0q44nzL0pPULxmGrF8mDDVa3EY1_Brxegu9IGOwbtv_jPJSq7kgzODTqQc18uKKk95zTl7miYOmwRAJHHl75Hnrj0W8m8541beE/s1600/taylor2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 315px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616694786126244770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwGswBkabv30I4P0oG2Vz1Xy6QCuDgJlzw5CBFC-hX0q44nzL0pPULxmGrF8mDDVa3EY1_Brxegu9IGOwbtv_jPJSq7kgzODTqQc18uKKk95zTl7miYOmwRAJHHl75Hnrj0W8m8541beE/s400/taylor2.jpg" /></a>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pf4ioyWQl5rwAZwyGuYsY5_M7r3aajluRyKuYqGtlwTw0eudeaJ8WSnetPqSDCBL_q5DS4dnqazGMXKDRGWxw5LrWe5zV-UMq091XSFGiLX9e8tufBFRIKKvivDmJXwXtCOgGO_wpG8y/s1600/taylor3.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616694792932232578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pf4ioyWQl5rwAZwyGuYsY5_M7r3aajluRyKuYqGtlwTw0eudeaJ8WSnetPqSDCBL_q5DS4dnqazGMXKDRGWxw5LrWe5zV-UMq091XSFGiLX9e8tufBFRIKKvivDmJXwXtCOgGO_wpG8y/s400/taylor3.jpg" /></a>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9fGThcKxe7vPe1now_S9XdDI9BRilKtohLbrZw80VFWCHn3YECALDn4HHOfZUqumHaaYe-bqJT4GINlxPkCiVjdjgu1OB9PdAie9qoER-Ogjl5N1b4qwlRTl0-cxdzCYbS6-tcLMF-zD/s1600/taylorobit.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 329px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616694084964163426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9fGThcKxe7vPe1now_S9XdDI9BRilKtohLbrZw80VFWCHn3YECALDn4HHOfZUqumHaaYe-bqJT4GINlxPkCiVjdjgu1OB9PdAie9qoER-Ogjl5N1b4qwlRTl0-cxdzCYbS6-tcLMF-zD/s400/taylorobit.JPG" /></a>
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<br /><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">JAMES E. TAYLOR DEAD</span></strong></div>
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<br /><div align="center"><strong>He Was a Famous Artist and War Correspondent of the Rebellion</strong></div>
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<br /><strong>James E. Taylor, a war correspondent and artist of the rebellion, whose pictures of the Indian, negro, and soldier became famous throughout the United States, died yesterday at his home, 1460 Lexington Avenue, after a brief illness. Death was due to a complication of diseases; Mr. Taylor was born In Cincinnati, Ohio, and early showed remarkable skill with his pencil and brush. He was educated at Notre Dame du Lac University, at South Bend, Ind., and upon graduating from there painted a panorama of the American Revolution.</strong></div>
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<br /><strong>At this time he was only eighteen years of age, and his work and perseverance attracted the attention of the late Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D. D., of All Souls Church, New York. Dr; Bellows advised the young man to go to New York and study art, and offered to assist him during his first year's course. The offer was accepted, and the young artist arrived at the great metropolis in 1860, determined to make a reputation for himself, but the war fever seized him, and he enlisted with the Tenth New York Volunteers of National Zouaves and went to the front with them. He made good useof his spare time, and prepared a number of sketches of camp life and the stirring incidents of the opening of the rebellion.</strong>
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<br /><strong>After serving two years and reaching the rank of Sergeant, Taylor decided to enlist again, but was advised to apply for a position, as war correspondent. The very first man he went to — Frank Leslie — engaged him, and published the sketches he had made and assigned him to follow Sheridan's army. He remained with Gen. Sheridan in the principal engagements and "Little Phil's" famous ride.</strong>
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<br /><strong>With the close of the campaign in the valley, in December, 1864, when the main body of Sheridan's army departed to reinforce Grant at Petersburg, Taylor was ordered to Gen. Butler's front on the James River, and remained there, to picture his dusky friends and bluecoats, until after the blowing out of the bulkhead of the Dutch Gap Canal, which incident he constructed from a. sketch he made of the canal under fire when it was being dug. After the explosion he went to Matanzas by steamer, and thence to Port Royal, to again join Sheridan's army, then about to leave Savannah on its march through the Carolinas to menace Richmond and aid Gen. Grant in its capture.</strong>
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<br /><strong>He made the journey of 1,000 miles on horseback with the Seventeenth Corps, and finally arrived at Richmond, after many exciting incidents. At the close of the rebellion he went South to portray the negro and the Indianfor Leslie's and continued with that magazine till 18S3. He was the detailed artist to the Peace Commission with the Indians that held council at Medicine Lodge Creek in 1867, and was sent to Santo Domingo with the Annexation Commission in 1870, during Gen. Grant's Administration, onboard the frigate Tennessee, which vessel was reported lost, as it was missing for a week.</strong>
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<br /><strong>Among his most famous paintings was "The Last Grand Review," painted for Gen. Sherman, depicting- the victorious Union troops wheeling into Fifteenth Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington,D. C., on May 21, 1865. The plates of this picture were stolen, and it was widely sold throughout the United States and Europe. Four of his pictures are now in the publi clibrary at Washington. About five years ago he retired, and spent much of his time in travel. He was sixty-one years old and a bachelor. Funeral services will be held at his late residence on Monday at 10 o'clock.</strong>
<br />Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-38922504348550252732011-06-06T11:15:00.000-07:002011-06-06T11:57:50.377-07:00The University of Notre Dame Archives Comes Through Again!<div><strong>I have posted before (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/giving-thanks-no-nonfiction-writer-is.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>, <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/05/sherman-papers-at-notre-dame.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>, <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/notre-dames-civil-war-roll-of-honor.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>, and many more) on how critical the kind, expert, and enthusiastic assistance of the <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/index.htm"><span style="font-size:130%;">Archives of the University of Notre Dame</span> </a>(AUND) was to my successfully researching and writing <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</a></span> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010).</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>Likewise, I've mentioned before (<a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/05/sister-act-two.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>) interesting connections between the Notre Dame/Civil War project and my current Galveston (TX)/Civil War writing and research project, especially the involvement of Catholic sister-nurses in both cases.</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>As it turns out, the University of Notre Dame Archives also has some great material to support my Galveston/Civil War project, and - perhaps to many readers of this blog - <em>unexpectedly</em>!</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>It's no surprise that a primary mission of the AUND is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the permanent historical records of the University of Notre Dame...however, from the late 1800s, the University has also committed itself to documenting the history of the Catholic Church in the United States; to that end, the University Archives has acquired historical material and papers from the bishops of Baltimore, Bardstown-Louisville, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Vincennes-Indianapolis and many other Sees.</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>Among the diocesan papers they maintain are those of the <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/findaids/ead/html/ano.htm"><span style="font-size:130%;">Archdiocese of New Orleans (La.),</span> </a>including more than <em>34 linear feet</em> (!) of records from 1786-1897.</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">So...what does this have to do with my Galveston/Civil War research project? </span></strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8n0J-2BthjDyXZK3GgasPhBWQ5MvRUGa3r2uqxGu-mF-NtUrz4jyKyMz-4uYKRt2XRy1pym0qfLsF5cEHAC-vCsnUO7ZKuf1jJXlzVLxHVO6sg0RQoWHxZyS7USRaBwLnhY0LMLDXoiLM/s1600/odin.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 156px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 234px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615182188559058690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8n0J-2BthjDyXZK3GgasPhBWQ5MvRUGa3r2uqxGu-mF-NtUrz4jyKyMz-4uYKRt2XRy1pym0qfLsF5cEHAC-vCsnUO7ZKuf1jJXlzVLxHVO6sg0RQoWHxZyS7USRaBwLnhY0LMLDXoiLM/s400/odin.JPG" /></a>The connection lies in <span style="font-size:130%;">Bishop Jean Marie Odin</span> (1800-1870). Odin was the first bishop of Galveston (1847) but just as the Civil War was starting, he was named as the Archbishop of New Orleans. You can read more about Bishop Odin at the <a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online">"Handbook of Texas Online"</a>, specifically his entry <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fod02">here</a></span>.</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>Odin was beloved by the people of Texas (especially Galveston) and many persons from Galveston maintained a steady correspondence with Bishop Odin over the course of the war.</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>Fortunately, to help researchers, the AUND has made available online its <a href="http://archives.nd.edu/calendar.htm"><span style="font-size:130%;">"Calendar"</span></a> of correspondence, which serves an excellent finding aid, with summaries of the correspondence.</strong></div><br /><br /><div><strong>I've been able to secure copies of more than a dozen letters written from Galvestonians to Bishop Odin in New Orleans during the war, although there are many more. From what I can tell, these have not been used in the Galveston/Civil War literature-to-date, and I am confident that the information I'll glean from them will 1) make the book all the more interesting and 2) add to the scholarship of Galveston and the Civil War.</strong></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-41640025099701330172011-05-31T10:25:00.000-07:002011-05-31T10:41:54.276-07:00GREAT News for Notre Dame/Civil War and e-Readers!<div><strong>Just got some great news from my publisher, </strong><a href="http://www.historypress.net/"><strong>The History Press</strong></a><strong>: <em><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</a></span></em> will soon be available in several e-Book formats (!):</strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-YEZlx2KvpKe5hgE_rZ1x3TjDjqNNoSRCo4Jz6DB6Udv4otbCMi3WP0pAktZN-rY2T2z9o6BTlpndwIQSS79tBLkncNZlDr8KEcRDR3cnDlMs4Txey0vO2Pc1AAx8rlI656231YFioVq/s1600/images.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 225px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612936125258755810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-YEZlx2KvpKe5hgE_rZ1x3TjDjqNNoSRCo4Jz6DB6Udv4otbCMi3WP0pAktZN-rY2T2z9o6BTlpndwIQSS79tBLkncNZlDr8KEcRDR3cnDlMs4Txey0vO2Pc1AAx8rlI656231YFioVq/s400/images.jpg" /></a><strong>I’m writing with exciting news from The History Press. We’re continuing to pursue the rapidly expanding opportunities for electronic editions of our books, and we plan to include your title,</strong></em><strong> Notre Dame and the Civil War<em>, in a new batch of e-books that we will bring to market in the coming weeks. We believe that we can reach additional portions of the audience for your book with an electronic edition distributed through the most prominent e-book sales channels, and we plan to begin that process immediately. This will take up to twelve weeks to complete, and you do not need to take any action. We will be in touch again when distribution of your e-book begins.</em></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Stay posted for more details!</span></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>For an interesting take on e-Book trends, check out the always interesting and reliable Ted Savas of Savas-Beatie at his "Publisher's Perspectives" blog, </strong><a href="http://savasbeatie.blogspot.com/2011/05/amazon-sells-more-kindle-books-than.html"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-6523421995286825532011-05-14T20:10:00.000-07:002011-05-15T10:47:22.741-07:00Harry's Just Wild About "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEHGiEFvxbe8dgkSgxOXuPUE89ORIRtGRgKz5Cg1w5H3K2jT2eFeeSJeOnXedLu9X6UJu2lixpyIpxm6EVx-LWfmiSfhV4mya2AvXXloxCx_UkMySqTwpbrBAIdFjxlt3GLY5fZIUkGZf/s1600/acw+july11.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEHGiEFvxbe8dgkSgxOXuPUE89ORIRtGRgKz5Cg1w5H3K2jT2eFeeSJeOnXedLu9X6UJu2lixpyIpxm6EVx-LWfmiSfhV4mya2AvXXloxCx_UkMySqTwpbrBAIdFjxlt3GLY5fZIUkGZf/s400/acw+july11.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606999891513276418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">I want to thank <span style="font-size:130%;">Harry Smeltzer</span> for writing a very kind review of </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to </span></span></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Victory</span></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010) in his "Harry's Just Wild About" feature in the July 2011 issue <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.historynet.com/americas-civil-war"><span style="font-style: italic;">America's Civil War </span></a></span>magazine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpt:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"The author consulted an impressive array of unpublished archival materials to relate how the school...answered the call to arms when the time came. Wile detailing the experiences of the men - and nuns - in the field, Schmidt doesn't neglect campus life during and after the war."</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thanks, Harry!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And whether you get the magazine by subscription or pick it up at the newsstand, make sure to check out Harry's article in the same issue: <span style="font-size:130%;">"Irvin McDowell's Best-Laid Plans" </span><span style="font-style: italic;">- The general was surprised by a fresh contingent of Rebels at Bull Run - or not.</span> It is really interesting and well-written!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And - especially - make sure to visit Harry's excellent blog <a href="http://bullrunnings.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-size:130%;">"Bull Runnings - A Journal of the Digitization of a Civil War Battle"</span></a>...it is one of the best and most popular Civil War blogs out there!</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Read more reviews of </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Patrick McNamara's Blog (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/patrick-mcnamara-reviews-notre-dame-and.html">here</a></span>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Civil War News (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/02/civil-war-news-reviews-notre-dame-and.html">here</a></span>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Civil War Librarian (Rea Andrew Redd) (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/02/civil-war-librarian-reviews-notre-dame.html">here</a></span>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/american-catholic-reviews-notre-dame-in.html">here</a></span>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/confederate-book-review-interviews.html">here</a></span>)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/01/irish-in-american-civil-war-reviews.html">here</a></span>)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">South Bend Tribune Feature (Howard Dukes) (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/notre-dame-in-civil-war-featured-in.html">here</a></span>)</span>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-33403265899092617172011-05-09T19:26:00.000-07:002011-05-10T13:01:38.446-07:00Sister Act TWO!<div><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">I'm pleased, honored, and humbled that <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a></span> - publisher of my recent book <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></a></span> - saw fit to extend me a contract for a new book project, tentatively entitled <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Galveston and the Civil War: An Island People in the Maelstrom</span></span>.<br /><br />You can read more about the book project and what I hope to accomplish <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://civilwarmed.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-book-project-galveston-oh-galveston.html">here</a></span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigPNhcw3LtWDkxoJvrGBAZBtnp55cX8GE4PgR1RrzvnxlfbrWUjTrc-M26RXJ0nEh00vRlpcUiEd9mzjKBHxNvWr7BBBUHyLww2gDQ2l9LfhavtqDdXJWxUxSN9WF1dcA-O4bbYbFJoLx/s1600/ursul+mon.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 316px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 378px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605179796351905426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigPNhcw3LtWDkxoJvrGBAZBtnp55cX8GE4PgR1RrzvnxlfbrWUjTrc-M26RXJ0nEh00vRlpcUiEd9mzjKBHxNvWr7BBBUHyLww2gDQ2l9LfhavtqDdXJWxUxSN9WF1dcA-O4bbYbFJoLx/s400/ursul+mon.JPG" /></a>As it turns out, the Notre Dame project and the Galveston project share something in common: the role of Catholic sister-nurses!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">I have written about the Holy Cross sister-nurses of Notre Dame and St. Mary's Academy several times on this blog (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/perfect-gift-for-civil-war-catholic.html">here</a></span>, <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/mother-angela-very-rare-and-exceptional.html">here</a></span>, and <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/holy-cross-sisters-navy-nurse-pioneers.html">here</a></span>).</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">While the Holy Cross sister-nurses represented one of the <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">largest</span> contingents of Catholic sisters to serve as nurses, the sisters in Galveston - of the Ursuline order - represented one of the <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">smallest</span>, if not <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">the</span> smallest, contingent, but their contributions and sacrifices were no less important and their bravery no less intrepid.<br /><br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">According to the "<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook">Handbook of Texas Online</a></span>":<br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">URSULINE ACADEMY, GALVESTON. The Ursuline Academy at Galveston was established in February 1847 by Ursuline Sisters from New Orleans, who had arrived on January 16. The school, Galveston's first parochial school, was on a ten-acre campus. Attended by girls of all faiths, the academy opened in 1854, closed for a time in 1857 during a yellow fever epidemic, and was used as a hospital by both sides during the Civil War. </span>The main Victorian Gothic building, constructed by Nicholas J. Clayton along with the convent in the mid-1890s, sheltered more than 1,000 refugees during the Galveston hurricane of 1900. A total of 306 students enrolled in 1930, and the girls' high school, elementary school, and kindergarten had an enrollment of 225 in 1940. In January 1947 the school celebrated its centennial, and by 1949 the campus comprised seven or eight acres with the academy building, a brick chapel, and monastery. Hurricane Carla damaged both the academy and convent in 1961, and the buildings were subsequently demolished. The campus chapel, redesigned by Clayton, stood from 1871 to 1961, while the convent remained from 1854 to 1973. In 1968 the Ursuline girls' school consolidated with Kirwin Catholic High School and the Dominican girls' school; it was renamed O'Connell High School for Msgr. Dan O'Connell.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">See also at the "Handbook":<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ixu01">Ursuline Sisters</a><br /><a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhadd">HARRINGTON, MARGARET [MOTHER ST. PIERRE]</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I am really looking forward to telling their story as part of this new project!</span></span></span> </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>I will use some of my favorite secondary sources on Catholic sister-nurses in the Civil War, sources on the history of Catholic institutions in Texas, the <a href="http://www.osucentral.org/">Archives of the Central Province of the Ursuline Sisters</a>, <span style="font-size:130%;">and a <em>rarely-used archival source</em></span> that I will feature in a future blog post! If you have other ideas, let me know!</strong></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-25132384159094555442011-04-27T18:54:00.000-07:002011-04-27T19:37:27.071-07:00Holy Cross Sisters: Navy Nurse Pioneers!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFeJd3t3fAvdJi1EazCcpVAeci8amZv-6_6-Kx4_VRBoxuZ9trtvGgp18LCNK5e5Eg5Pc_DI5tNPOfdm6jHuFhI17QIu-1OH9Z3vsGAa7Ao78CMiSRRXR99TrQw2QtKU5O9oNoQfBmGoY/s1600/redrover2.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 364px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFeJd3t3fAvdJi1EazCcpVAeci8amZv-6_6-Kx4_VRBoxuZ9trtvGgp18LCNK5e5Eg5Pc_DI5tNPOfdm6jHuFhI17QIu-1OH9Z3vsGAa7Ao78CMiSRRXR99TrQw2QtKU5O9oNoQfBmGoY/s400/redrover2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600453878519112002" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >I have posted before (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/mother-angela-very-rare-and-exceptional.html">here</a></span> and <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/perfect-gift-for-civil-war-catholic.html">here</a>) about the Holy Cross sisters of the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's Academy that served as nurse</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >s </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">during the American Civil War (and I will be posting even more!)</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of their most remarkable accomplishments during the war, that they were the pioneers of the United States Navy's nurse corps, is described in the excerpt below fro</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">m <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></span></a> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010).</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">PIONEERS</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Christmas Eve 1862, three Holy Cross sister-nurses boarded the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> USS <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span>, the navy’s first floating hospital ship. According to the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> navy’s ow</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">n official history, the women represented another important</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> first: <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“[They] may truly be said to be the pioneers or forerunners of the</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> United States Navy Nurse Corps as they were the first female nurses</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> carried on board a United States Navy Hospital Ship.”</span></span>(1)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk39D60_9apwY3AK2vB39ulnl9DHP960lIX4XyL-FnDy4488BVX5vZtmDEjc-A-qKc_bKPhsRuJOuOHy6AwSUhKfsNo01XFs-D5WVgPZb3zijCqM9vm9TypueczCSq6oHxqLyWYJX_bI6Y/s1600/redrover3.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk39D60_9apwY3AK2vB39ulnl9DHP960lIX4XyL-FnDy4488BVX5vZtmDEjc-A-qKc_bKPhsRuJOuOHy6AwSUhKfsNo01XFs-D5WVgPZb3zijCqM9vm9TypueczCSq6oHxqLyWYJX_bI6Y/s400/redrover3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600453878594158434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Built in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1859, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> began</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> its riverine life as a commercial side-wheel steamer. In late 1861, the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Confederacy bought the steamer in New Orleans, renamed it CSS <span style="font-style: italic;">Red</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Rover</span> and used it as an unarmed barracks for soldiers and sailors assigned</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> to a nearby floating artillery battery. In early 1862, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> made</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> its way up the Mississippi River but was abandoned a month after being</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">damaged in a Union naval bombardment. Federals ca</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ptured the ship,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and following on-the-spot repairs, the steamer made its way to St. Louis,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> where the newly christened USS <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> was refitted as a floating</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> hospital for the Western Gunboat Flotilla.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Mother Angela happily offered her sisters as nurses on the unique</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> floating hospital, and when the <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> was transferred to the navy</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> in late 1862, she sent Sister Veronica Moran, Sister Adela Reilly and</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Sister Callista Pointan from the Mound City hospital for service on</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> the steamer. They were joined by two African American women, who</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> served under their direction. Other Holy Cross sisters also served on the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> steamer, but Sister Veronica and Sister Adela served continuously until</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> November 1865. The sister-nurses earned fifty cents per day (ten cents</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> more than their counterparts in the army), though they were subject to</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">the same irregular pay as soldie</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">rs and sailors (in a hospital account book,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Mother Angela chided: <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“The paymaster is generally very tardy, leaving</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> an interval of several months between his appearanc</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">es”</span></span>).(2)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> set out on December 29, 1862, leaving Mound City</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and passing down the river toward Memphis, then Helena, Arkansas,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and finally to the Yazoo River, where it received orders to guard the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> mouth of the White River while the flotilla bombarded Arkansas Post</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (Fort Hindman), Arkansas, and transported troops to storm the fort; the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> wounded were transferred to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> after the successful assault.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Even though the <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> was a hospital ship, the steamer was armed</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and sometimes a target. On January 21, 1863, Rebel artillery fired on the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span>, and two shots entered the hospital. Sister Adela recalled that</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> during the Vicksburg campaign, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“was near enough to hear</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> the firing and also to see the boats running the blockade.”</span></span>(3)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">The USS <span style="font-style: italic;">Red Rover</span> and its Holy Cross sister-nurses were featured in</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> a handsome series of engravings in the May 9, 1863 issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">Harper’s</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Weekly</span>. T</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">he caption declared:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">This institution…is under the charge of Surgeon Geor</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">ge H. Bixby and</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Dr. Hopkins, and is an untold comfort to our sick or wounded sailors. The</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> sketch shows the main ward, in which are accommodations for over two</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> hundred patients. The Sister is one of those good women whose angelic</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> services have been sung by poets and breathed by grateful convalescents all</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> the world over. The convalescents are placed in a ward for their sole use,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> where they smoke, read, and generally enjoy themselves. The boat itself, a</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" > clean, roomy craft, is under the command of a gallant old sailor.</span>(4)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">In addition to being a generous and contemporary tribute, the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> engravings are thought to be the only wart</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ime depictions of the Holy</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Cross sister-nurses in action.</span><br /><br />Notes:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(1). E. Kent Loomis, “History of the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Red Rover,”</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Division</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> of Naval History, Ships’ History Section, Report No. OP 09B9, 1961, 7.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(2)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mary D. Maher, <span style="font-style: italic;">To Bind Up the Wounds: Catholic Sister Nurses in the U.S.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Civil War</span> (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999), 91.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(3) Barbara M. Wall, “Grace </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Under Pressure: The Nursing Sisters of the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Holy Cross, 1861–1865,” <span style="font-style: italic;">Nursing History Review</span> 1 (1993): 80.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(4) <span style="font-style: italic;">Harper’s Weekly</span>, “The Nav</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">al Hospital Boat ‘Red Rover,’” May 9,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> 1863, 299.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HOLY CROSS SISTER-NURSES IN <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">NOTRE DAME AND THE CIVIL WAR MARCHING ONWARD TO VICTORY</span></span></a>!</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtbuYWOvblBJr6c8plH8FHbYWUwil6gjwh6FIXovEPX_hO2rwPSN0UN5Qkq5FXk_8fe4Hz6MyvPHroJQfcLLIZ_8kr8g8hvgZo3hKMxAGO6u8YYct7DKWArUVbamgpVatlm7jUHrjgd_r/s1600/redrover1.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtbuYWOvblBJr6c8plH8FHbYWUwil6gjwh6FIXovEPX_hO2rwPSN0UN5Qkq5FXk_8fe4Hz6MyvPHroJQfcLLIZ_8kr8g8hvgZo3hKMxAGO6u8YYct7DKWArUVbamgpVatlm7jUHrjgd_r/s400/redrover1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600453875206100658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuV_VBvCY2JH_cCHTXOgGj20pSCwKcd9n_NdIK9_WDbrRzLNAC8gPKUyNZK3qnVQ8s6HTRCp9K1QjqCZnSs1SBGqhxN6uci7Zc39yPZpz-TFtk1J0Ajr3OBQDzONVd47HRTNaf4dM9GhU7/s1600/redrover4.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuV_VBvCY2JH_cCHTXOgGj20pSCwKcd9n_NdIK9_WDbrRzLNAC8gPKUyNZK3qnVQ8s6HTRCp9K1QjqCZnSs1SBGqhxN6uci7Zc39yPZpz-TFtk1J0Ajr3OBQDzONVd47HRTNaf4dM9GhU7/s400/redrover4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600453885760993154" border="0" /></a>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-54783291268199555042011-04-22T11:53:00.001-07:002011-04-22T12:26:50.885-07:00Holy Week 1864 with Notre Dame's Fr. Cooney<span style="font-weight: bold;">I have profiled Notre Dame Holy Cross priest Fr. Peter P. Cooney in previous posts (<span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/05/notre-dame-civil-war-chaplain-profile-2.html">here</a></span> and </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2010/12/notre-dame-at-battle-of-stones-river.html">here</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">).<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMiCOcA2ChV9-TJ-EXdcM5vPqsETPVGjRF9QXccEYjoyrsxaCiToSMqpLUEiXxAe5WpLoQsEPWFmI4eDEysOPQaRdtorY5fQAMNoOljba8_PO9SvYmefMzjF281XJYePgTC6nu-HitFYt/s1600/cooney2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMiCOcA2ChV9-TJ-EXdcM5vPqsETPVGjRF9QXccEYjoyrsxaCiToSMqpLUEiXxAe5WpLoQsEPWFmI4eDEysOPQaRdtorY5fQAMNoOljba8_PO9SvYmefMzjF281XJYePgTC6nu-HitFYt/s400/cooney2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598491365747979522" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">As mentioned in those previous posts, soon after joining his regiment, Fr. Cooney </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">began writing letters, mainly to his brother, Owen, at home in Michigan. Fortunately, those wartime letters have survived. They give wonderful firsthand testimony to his activities as a chaplain, the role his regiment played in some major battles of the war, and the character – especially the religious hab</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">its – of some important military personalities of the war, especially General William Rosecrans.<br /><br />The original letters and his other papers are held by the Archives of the University of Notre Dame. Some of the letters were published by Thomas McElroy in three parts as <span style="font-size:130%;">“The War Letters of Father Peter Paul Cooney of the Congreg</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">ation of the Holy Cross,” <span style="font-style: italic;">Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia</span>, 1933.</span> The archives also maintains his wartime diary.<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />One of those letters to Fr. Cooney's brother was written on April 26, 1864, and he describes his religious duties and efforts during Holy Week leading up to Easter Day 1864:</span><br /><br />Blue Springs, Tennesse (near Cleveland, Tenn.)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 26, 1864<br /><br />My dear Brother:<br /><br />I am very surprised that I did not receive a single word from you since I left home. I have, I think, written you at least three or four letters. I hope that carelessness is the only reason why you did not write; and if you were sick or otherwise unable to write, you should have got some one to write me <span style="font-style: italic;">even a few lines</span>. My health is and has been very good, thanks be to God.<br /><br />I have been for the last two months very busy in preparing the men to complete their Easter duty, otherwise I would have written oftener, to you. Our division consists of about twelve thousand men and there are Catholics in every regiment. Protestants attend the sermons by thousands in the open field. I have baptized many of them and prejudice against to the Church is gone almost entirely.<br /><br />A short time ago I baptized and gave his first Communion to the Major General commanding our division. He is now a most fervent catholic and his example is powerful over the men of his command. I have every assistance from him in anything that I require for the discharge of my duties. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">He is extremely kind to me.<br /><br />After coming here it was very chilly and even cold and I had neither stove nor fireplace to warm my tent nor could I get any; nor brick or stone to build a chimney. During "holy week" we have about <span style="font-style: italic;">ten inches</span> of snow on the level. Though it lasted but a few days, it was very damp and chilly.<br /><br />He was at Mass on Holy Thursday and saw that I had no stove. He went to his headquarters and took a stove from one of his officers and sent it to me. The officer gave it cheerfully, although a protestant, when the General told him that I had to hear confessions and say my office in a cold tent, without fire. I have been very comfortable since, I have a fine tent in which I say Mass every morning.<br /><br />The General is vice-president of a temperance society that I have established in the regiment. We meet the first Sunday of every month. At our last meeting after I had finished my lecture to them on temperance, I invited the General, who is also a member, to say a few words to the members. He cheerfully c</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">onsented and made quite a speech on temperance. You may imagine the influence of a Majpr general in full uniform over the minds of officers and men who were present.<br /><br />The General's name is D.S. Stanley. he waas brought up in Ohio and is an officer in the Regular army. I was at his headquarters yesterday evening and he gave me his photograph which I send you. He wrotehis name on it. I would like to have it fixed with one of mine the same as that of Major general Rosecrans', as a remembrance of their piety and our companionship in the trials of this war.<br /><br />Another battle is expected ina short time. The main body of the Rebel army is at Dalton, Georgia, about eighteen miles from this place. I hope God will protect me in the future, as he has in the past. After the coming battle I will go to Indiana with the men's money and from there home for a few days, God being willing...<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I hope you are well. Practice your religion Dear Brother, attend to your business at home. I was glad to see by the papers that there would be no draft in Michigan. I shall write you soon again. Write soon. My love aand blessing to my mother and all.<br /><br />Your affectionate brother,<br /><br />P.P. Cooney, Chaplain<br />25th Reg. Ind. Vol.<br /><br />[P.S.]<br /><br />There is an artist in our brigade who took the picture of our regiment at Mass on Easter Sunday - my tent, etc. It was sent to Cincinnati to be engraved. It makes a beautiful picture. It will cost about five hundred dollars; when finished I will send a copy.<br /><br />Did you get the book I sent you? The spring is very backward here although very warm now. I do not suppose the vegetation is any furth</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">er advanced than it is at this time in Michigan.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHSwIjDuOa7J_LYLFmU0qId_zjE-cmLmVYGnitUaEY7kem2-QyagM0SS2pF1kmxp3YwpOKIwishJrQzuk74YTRvLjKfzALCRuO-KyzZUyZvdjROVe74rZcdMxt3zn7tjSeaY2QjSYNBuv/s1600/cooney.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHSwIjDuOa7J_LYLFmU0qId_zjE-cmLmVYGnitUaEY7kem2-QyagM0SS2pF1kmxp3YwpOKIwishJrQzuk74YTRvLjKfzALCRuO-KyzZUyZvdjROVe74rZcdMxt3zn7tjSeaY2QjSYNBuv/s400/cooney.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598491370021269490" border="0" /></a>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-36357077990187680802011-04-19T09:45:00.000-07:002011-04-19T10:05:57.342-07:00The First Days of the Civil War at Notre Dame - Part II - A Spirit of Fire<div><strong>As mentioned in Part I of this post (</strong><a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-days-of-civil-war-at-notre-dame.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><strong>), the first days of the Civil War were full of excitement at the University of Notre Dame.</strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>While Fr. Neal Gillespie declared that some students "did not “exhibit a very bellicose spirit nor vapormuch about ‘blood and thunder’ and the ‘cannon roar’ and such like," the additional excerpt below from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><em>Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</em></span></a> (<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010) indicates that some of the students were indeed "on fire":</strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong><span style="color:#009900;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBanuA_ITBjpU_9BYIAKVUP-uWcwnxHq9msd3kUvjb8pYxAWj2DKK96I35uePo3SbkYmcKn2X5hUSiqfMbrfQCM8yxqrBcGWNvuexo18l8C5jUgQY1elrJuKwnNGktPjNzNTmkVDc8Fexb/s1600/Colonel_William_F_Lynch_s.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 194px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597340940938720738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBanuA_ITBjpU_9BYIAKVUP-uWcwnxHq9msd3kUvjb8pYxAWj2DKK96I35uePo3SbkYmcKn2X5hUSiqfMbrfQCM8yxqrBcGWNvuexo18l8C5jUgQY1elrJuKwnNGktPjNzNTmkVDc8Fexb/s400/Colonel_William_F_Lynch_s.jpg" /></a>One student with a decided “bellicose spirit” was William F. Lynch, commander of Notre Dame’s "Continental Cadets." The citizens ofnearby South Bend met at the St. Joseph County Courthouse on the evening of April 15, 1861, to determine their course of action. With party loyalties set aside, the citizenry stood shoulder to shoulder in the packed courtroom, but Lynch—who was in the hall—grew impatient with the speeches and platitudes. He then gave a speech <span style="font-size:130%;"><em>“full of a fiery patriotism that carried the audience with his enthusiasm,”</em> </span>one historian declared. Years later, the <em>Notre Dame Scholastic</em> recalled the thrilling scene:</span></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong><em><span style="font-size:130%;color:#009900;">"He stood up, tall, soldierly; his Irish eyes were glittering, his face pale. The vibrant ring of the first sentence he rattled out above the heads of the good citizens made them catch their breath. In five minutes they were frantic; and when the boy told them he was going to the front to shed the last drop of his blood if needed for the Union, the audience leaped to its feet; cheer after cheer rang out wildly."</span></em></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong><span style="color:#009900;">Lynch then returned to Notre Dame, where as one report stated, he <em><span style="font-size:130%;">“set his own cadets afire, or rather…let the blaze out—they were afire already. To a boy they wanted to go to the front by the next train and put down the uprising of the South at once.”</span></em> Lynch left for Indianapolis to offer Notre Dame’s military company to the state, but Governor Oliver P.Morton was already overwhelmed with like petitions, and he told Lynch to go home and wait. In the meantime, Father Sorin—aware of the fiery patriotism in his student body—praised the cadets for their good spirit but declared that he had no authority to allow boys under twenty-one to enlist without their parents’ permission.</span></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Sources:</span></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Timothy E. Howard, <em>A History of St. Joseph County, Indiana</em>, vol. 2 (Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1907), p. 716; <em>Notre Dame Scholastic</em>, November 18, 1899, pp. 176-77.</span></strong></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>William F. Lynch - perhaps Notre Dame's most illustrious student-soldier - will soon be featured in his "own" post...it's interesting to consider what might have happened if the governor of Indiana had accepted an entire company of Notre Dame men into one of the state's regiments...as it was, the dozens of young men from the school who enlisted straight away were scattered among regiments from Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and other states.</strong></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3677026102771246509.post-27783531583059853312011-04-13T09:19:00.000-07:002011-04-14T15:53:05.922-07:00The First Days of the Civil War at Notre Dame - Part I - "Blood and Thunder"<div><strong>This week marked the 150th anniversary of the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Within days, President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to put down the rebellion.</strong><strong><br /><br />It was a week of great excitement at the University of Notre Dame as it was in homes, towns, and other campuses around the country.</strong><strong><br /><br />One of Notre Dame's very first graduates - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Henry_Gillespie"><span style="font-size:130%;">Neal Gillespie</span> </a>(Class of 1849) - stayed on at the school to study for the priesthood. He was also brother to Eliza Marie Gillespie, who would become Mother Angela (you can read about her in a previous post <a href="http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/2011/03/mother-angela-very-rare-and-exceptional.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a>).</strong><strong><br /><br />On April 19, 1861, Fr. Gillespie wrote his mother of the atmosphere on campus in the days following Fort Sumter. An excerpt of the letter appears in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Civil-War-Marching/dp/1596298790/"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory</span></em> </a>(<a href="http://www.historypress.net/">The History Press</a>, 2010):<span style="font-size:130%;"><em><br /><br />“Here all are well except those who are taken violently with the war fever, which epidemic rages in these northern climes in spite of the gloomy weather as fiercely as in the sunny south,” </em><span style="font-size:100%;">wrote Father Neal Gillespie to his mother from Notre Dame on April 19, 1861, just days after the surrender of Fort Sumter and President Abraham Lincoln’s first call for troops.</span> <em>“Some of the students perhaps will go to fight the battles of their country,”</em> <span style="font-size:100%;">he added but guessed that</span> <em>“the number will…be very small.”</em> <span style="font-size:100%;">He reported, with chagrin, that</span> <em>“the excitement has sadly interfered with the lessons of some of the hotheaded ones”</em> <span style="font-size:100%;">but wrote with admiration of two young boys—family friends—who</span> <em>“[took] the matter coolly, as sensible young men”</em> <span style="font-size:100%;">and did not</span> <em>“exhibit a very bellicose spirit nor vapor much about ‘blood and thunder’ and the ‘cannon roar’ and such like.”</em></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Source: Letter, Neal Gillespie to mother, April 19, 1861, Thomas EwingManuscripts (CEWI), Box 3, University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA).]</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />I will post more this week about how the students of Notre Dame reacted to the news of Fort Sumter!</span></strong></div>Jim Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03635615531025513644noreply@blogger.com0