Notre Dame in the Civil War

"Michigan Historical Review" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

2011-12-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

I want to thank the Historical Society of Michigan for publishing a very kind review of my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), in the most recent issue (Fall 2011) of their publication, Michigan Historical Review. Excerpts are below.

The review was written by Rev. Anthony J. Kuzniewski, S.J., Professor of History, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Fr. Kuzniewski is the author of several publications, including Faith and Fatherland: The Polish Church War in Wisconsin, 1896-1918 (winner of the 1973 Kosciuszko Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Award), Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843-1994, assistant editor of Waclaw Kruszka: A History of the Poles in America to 1908 (multivolume annotated translation of original work), articles in The Catholic Historical Review, Milwaukee History, Polish American Studies, American National Biography, Eerdmans' Handbook to Christianity in America, The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History, and in separate anthologies edited by Robert Trisco, Frank Mocha, Frank Renkiewicz, and Sally M. Miller. In 2002, Fr. Kusniewski received the Holy Cross Distinguished Teaching Award.

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.

Excerpts: "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...

"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.

"Notre Dame and the Civil War 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."

Thank You Michigan Historical Review and Fr. Kusniewski!

Read other reviews of Notre Dame and the Civil War here:

America's Civil War Magazine (here)
Patrick McNamara's Blog (here)
Civil War News (here)
Civil War Librarian (Rea Andrew Redd) (here)
Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (here)
Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (here)
Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (here)
South Bend Tribune Feature (here)

Meet Me in St. Louis! (at the St. Louis Civil War Round Table!)

2011-10-18T16:08:00.001-07:00

Meet Me in St. Louis!

I'll have the great privilege and pleasure of giving a presentation about my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), to the Civil War Round Table of St. Louis (MO) on Wednesday evening, October 26, 2011.

Come and join us!

You can learn more about the "who, what, when, where, etc." at their terrific website (here).

Meeting Fr. Corby's Family - Stories and Letters and Relatives

2011-09-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

There are a great number of joys in being a writer, especially one who writes about history (and I can assure that the money, what little of it there is, is not one of them!).

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 2) my favorite favorite: interactions with readers.

As you'll learn below, both of these joys were fulfilled this week and at the same time 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.

Some background first:

Anyone who has read my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 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, here).

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:

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.

A memorial article in The Michigan Catholic in 1886 declared that "there was not a charitable work commenced in his lifetime that he did not aid generously and continuously."

The Michigan Catholic article also noted some details of his family life:

"His life was not without affliction and trials. Five of his children were carried to the tomb in early years; 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."

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 "the fiscal agent of St. Joseph, for he cashed the many drafts of this saint, so frequently appealed to, with a liberality unparalleled."

St. Joseph's parish in Detroit has a wonderful website (here), with an equally wonderful and interesting section (here), where I learned in the parish's "History Corner" that "Some of [Daniel Corby's] 12 children became parishioners then and some of his descendants are still members of St. Joseph Church today."

You can imagine how excited and honored I was that Mr. Patrick Degens - one of the descendants of Daniel Corby and author of the "History Corner" - sent me the following e-mail in the past few days:

"I had to buy your book when I saw the frontice page on "McNamara's Blog" (note; you can see Patrick McNamara's kind review of my book here) . My great grand uncle was Father William Corby."

WOW! Patrick goes on to relate some wonderful family stories and history related to Fr. Corby and his extended family:

"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 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.' She added that she was very small."

What a wonderful story, and it undoubtedly warmed the heart of Fr. Corby, known widely for his geniality and humor.

Mr. Degens continued:

"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. 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. I never knew any of my grandparents as they had all passed before I was born."

In a later e-mail, Patrick kindly shared the content of that letter from Sr. Mary Ambrose, with the following notes on his family:

"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). Note that in the letter below, Winnie was a half sister to Father William and Sister Ambrose"

And now for the letter:

St. Joseph Academy
South Bend - Ind
June 5, 1892

My Dear Libbie,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Remember in your prayers
Your Affectionate
Sister M Ambrose

Thank you, Mr. Degens; it was an honor and a privilege to hear from you!

As if that wasn't enough: in another twist, Patrick also shared:

"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."

Kindred spirits, indeed!

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 "Civil War Stories of Inspiration" blog here.

Is it any wonder that this is my FAVORITE part of writing?

Notre Dame Chaplain Profiles #5 and #6 - Frs. Bourget and Leveque

2011-07-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

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.

See these posts for previous profiles:

#1 = Fr. Paul E. Gillen, CSC (here)
#2 = Fr. Peter P. Cooney, CSC (here)
#3 = Fr. Joseph C. Carrier, CSC (here)
#4 = Fr. James M. Dillon (here)

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, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 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.

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.

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)

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. Unfortunately, his stay—like Father Lévêque’s—was not long. Father Bourget contracted malaria and died at the hospital on June 12, 1862.

Note:

(1) “Obituary of Rev. J.M.Z. Leveque,” New York Herald clipping, February14, 1862, Lévêque File, Indiana Province Archives Center, Congregation of the HolyCross, Notre Dame, Indiana (IPAC)

College Life in the 1860s - Part II

2011-07-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

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.

In doing background research for my most recent book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), I did some background reading on the history of other colleges in the Civil War and it has become an abiding interest.

One of my favorite books during that research was Willis Rudy's The Campus and a Nation in Crisis: From the American Revolution to Vietnam (Madison, NJ: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996).

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:

Hobart College (Geneva, NY) (here)
University of Pennsylvania (here)

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!

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.:

HALLS OF HONOR: COLLEGE MEN IN THE OLD SOUTH

I want to thank the kind folks at the Louisiana State University Press for sending me a review copy!

I recently finished the book and I can give it an unabashed A+!

From the publisher's website:

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.

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.

Halls of Honor represents a significant update of E. Merton Coulter's 1928 classic work, College Life in the Old South, which focused on the University of Georgia. Pace's lively study will widen the discussion of antebellum southern college life for decades to come.

There is a LOT to recommend this book to readers:

1) It's relatively short (117 pages of main text; 27 pages of Notes/Bibliography; index) and that's a good thing! As one of my favorite historians and writers, Jason Emerson, has declared: "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." 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, here).

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: University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, University of Alabama, and Hampden-Sidney College.

3) In the first chapter, Dr. Pace discusses academic life at the institutions, including faculty, curriculum, cheating, and commencement. 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. 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.

4) In the second chapter, the author describes campus life, including accommodations, noise, clothing, fire, pests, heating, illness, and dining. 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.

5) In the third chapter - easily the most entertaining - Dr. Pace describes "Sowing Oats and Growing Up" including amusements, entertainment and relationships. Dr. Pace describes the prevalence of drinking alcohol among the young men - or "getting tight" as it was called back in the day. Social fraternities - especially literary societies - were also very popular and intense rivalries grew amongst competing societies on several campuses. 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.

6) In the fourth chapter, Dr. Pace discusses "Honor and Violence" including rules, pranks, riots, guns, and duels. Dr. Pace describes how college administrators struggled with student conduct, some of it whimsical and some of it deadly, either purposefully or accidentally.

7) In the fifth and final chapter, Dr. Pace discusses "College Life and the Civil War." This includes secessionist and (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.

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.

If I have any criticisms, they are few:

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.

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.

These are minor quibbles, however, and they do not detract from this EXCELLENT book!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Thank You, LSU Press!

College Life in the 1860s - Part I

2011-07-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

"Life started every morning at half past five during my four years [at Notre Dame], but since then I have forgotten all about the rising sun." - James McCormack, Notre Dame student, 1863-67

I recently had the pleasure of reading a terrific book - Halls of Honor: College Men in the Old South 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 LSU Press.

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 Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) that "dovetails" nicely with Dr. Pace's Halls of Honor, in that it describes college life at Notre Dame in the 1860s, away from the battlefields.

In fact, I have posted a few previous items about 1860s college life at Notre Dame, including:

Student Body at Notre Dame in the 1860s (here)
Wartime Fisticuffs on Campus at Notre Dame (here)
Early Military Training at Notre Dame (here)
School Year Holidays at Notre Dame in the 1860s (here)
Lincoln's Inauguration - A Letter from Notre Dame (here)
The reaction to the firing on Ft. Sumter (here and here)
1865 Commencement Excercises at Notre Dame (here)

Below is an excerpt from Notre Dame and the Civil War that includes some additional great first-person accounts of life as a student there in the 1860s. Enjoy!

Historians can thank James McCormack for leaving one of the best descriptions of student life at Notre Dame during the war years. “My first semester at Notre Dame all furnishings were very simple, really crude,” he recalled, adding that “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.” (1)

Indeed, Father Sorin wrote that directly because of the war, “laborers became so scarce that it was hard to find men to cut fire wood” and that the school’s council found itself “face to face with the almost impossible task of obtaining the amount of wood necessary for the winter, which had already set in.” After the “most serious deliberation,” the council resolved to introduce steam heating (as had already been done at St. Mary’s). It was already November, and “there was not a day to spare,” Father Sorin continued, adding that “the work was urged forward with all possible haste, and by Christmas the college was heated satisfactorily and economically.” (2)

James McCormack also remembered improvements in the sleeping arrangements:

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)

As a new soldier, Orville T. Chamberlain recalled the crowded conditions during his school days, writing in late August 1862 that his unit had “marched through [Louisville] to a house where we stayed overnight. A thousand men in one room is worse than the dormitories at Notre Dame.” (4)

Of a typical day as a student, McCormack recalled:

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. (5)

Orville Chamberlain agreed with McCormack on the quality of the table fare, writing home before the war: “Our diet here is not luxurious, unless you think ‘luxurious’ to be derived from the Latin lux and make it partake of its original signification [“light”]; still we are in no danger of starvation, and they get up pretty good dinners.” 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)

McCormack might be forgiven for his dubious recollection that “the boys never saw South Bend except on arriving and departing from Notre Dame.” 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: “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.’” Father Sorin placed notices in the local papers asking the citizens to report any serious misbehavior. (7)

NOTES:

(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).
(2) Edward Sorin, CSC, The Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac, trans. William Toohey, ed. James T. Connelly (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 285–86.
(3) McCormack, typewritten essay
(4) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to Joseph Chamberlain, August 23,1862, Chamberlain Papers, Box 1, Folder 8, Indiana Historical Society (IHS)
(5) McCormack, typewritten essay.
(6) Letter, Orville Chamberlain to “Friends,” March 4, 1861,Chamberlain Papers, Box 1, Folder 8, IHS.
(7) McCormack, typewritten essay; Arthur J. Hope, Notre Dame: One Hundred Years (Notre Dame, IN:University Press, 1948), 103.

Radio Interview About "Notre Dame and the Civil War"

2011-06-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

I had the great privilege and pleasure of speaking with Mrs. Madeline Johnson about Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) and other interesting topics on her radio program, "Life to the Full," sponsored by the Radio Ministry of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (TX).

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.")

Enjoy and Thank You for listening! (and special thanks to the incomparable Madeline Johnson!)

Swaddled in History! (The Multi-Generation Story of My Baptismal Clothes)

2011-06-15T14:20:00.001-07:00

I've had the great privilege of being interviewed by bloggers Donald Thompson (here and here) and Robert Redd (here) in which I was able to explain from whence my interest in history, generally, and Civil War history, especially, come.

I was pondering lately, though, why I would have more than an interest it, and rather a passion.

Perhaps it's because I was literally "swaddled in history" almost from birth as witnessed in the clipping below from the June 16, 1964 edition of the Hays (KS) Daily News:

Off and On Main Street

By L. M.

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.

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.

For his baptism James wore a hand crocheted cap which had been worn by four generations and a hand sewn dress which had been worn by three generations 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.

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.

So, there you go! Maybe that's where I get my passion for history!
Do some quick math and you'll see that the cap is now 119 years old and the gown is now 96 years old!

The cap and gown are still in our family...my daughter was the fifth generation to wear it, in 1986!

Notre Dame's Civil War "Roll of Honor" - James E. Taylor - With Sword and Brush

2011-06-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned in previous posts and in the Preface of my book, Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), I have a long-term goal of cataloging and researching Notre Dame's Civil War student-soldiers.

You can find an initial list here.

My previous student-soldier profiles are listed below:

Cassius M. Brelsford - 113th Illinois Infantry (here)
John C. Lonergan - 58th Illinois Infantry (here)
Timothy E. Howard - 12th Michigan Infantry (here)
Frank Baldwin - 44th Indiana Infantry (here and here)
Felix Zeringue - 30th Louisiana Infantry (CSA) (here)
Michael Quinlan - 27th Virginia Infantry (CSA) (here and here)
Thomas E. Lonergan - 90th Illinois Infantry (here)
Orville T. Chamberlain - 74th Indiana Infantry (here and here)

There are many more profiles to come!

Today's post introduces readers to another Notre Dame Civil War student-soldier - James E. Taylor, 10th New York Infantry, although he is probably better known for his paint brush and charcoal pencil than his soldiering!

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 “his employers would catch him drawing when he should have been working,” one Taylor biographer declared.

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,“mastered the rudiments of drawing which have since stood [me] in such good stead.” 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 “laid down the brush…and shouldering his gun at his Country’s Call went to the Front” with the 10th New York Volunteer Infantry.

Taylor mustered out as a sergeant at the end of his two years’ service,“through which Ordeal he passed Unscathed owing to fortuitous Circumstances,” 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 Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Taylor spent the rest of the war as a “special artist” for Leslie,who counseled Taylor to pay attention to every detail, “even sticks, stones and stumps…regardless of flying bullet and shell.” 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.

Note: All quotes are from Oliver Jensen, “War Correspondent: 1864,” American Heritage 31, No. 5 (August–September 1980): 48–64. You can read the full text of the article here.

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 Western Reserve Historical Society (Ohio), until being released by Morningside Press in 1989 (in a hard-to-find edition).

You can also learn more about Taylor at the Smithsonian's online "Drawing the Western Frontier: The James E. Taylor Album" exhibit (here).

See here for a WONDERFUL image of Taylor in a Zouave uniform as part of the 10th New York (Michael J. McAfee Collection)

Taylor Portrait (Smithsonian) (above)
Example of Taylor Art (below)
Obituary - New York Times - June 23, 1901 (below)

JAMES E. TAYLOR DEAD

He Was a Famous Artist and War Correspondent of the Rebellion

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The University of Notre Dame Archives Comes Through Again!

2011-06-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

I have posted before (here, here, here, and many more) on how critical the kind, expert, and enthusiastic assistance of the Archives of the University of Notre Dame (AUND) was to my successfully researching and writing Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

Likewise, I've mentioned before (here) 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.

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 - unexpectedly!

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.

Among the diocesan papers they maintain are those of the Archdiocese of New Orleans (La.), including more than 34 linear feet (!) of records from 1786-1897.

So...what does this have to do with my Galveston/Civil War research project?

The connection lies in Bishop Jean Marie Odin (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 "Handbook of Texas Online", specifically his entry here.

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.

Fortunately, to help researchers, the AUND has made available online its "Calendar" of correspondence, which serves an excellent finding aid, with summaries of the correspondence.

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.

GREAT News for Notre Dame/Civil War and e-Readers!

2011-05-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

Just got some great news from my publisher, The History Press: Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory will soon be available in several e-Book formats (!):

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, Notre Dame and the Civil War, 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.

Stay posted for more details!

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, here.

Harry's Just Wild About "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

2011-05-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Harry Smeltzer for writing a very kind review of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) in his "Harry's Just Wild About" feature in the July 2011 issue America's Civil War magazine.

Excerpt:

"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."

Thanks, Harry!

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: "Irvin McDowell's Best-Laid Plans" - The general was surprised by a fresh contingent of Rebels at Bull Run - or not. It is really interesting and well-written!

And - especially - make sure to visit Harry's excellent blog "Bull Runnings - A Journal of the Digitization of a Civil War Battle"...it is one of the best and most popular Civil War blogs out there!

Read more reviews of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory:

Patrick McNamara's Blog (here)
Civil War News (here)
Civil War Librarian (Rea Andrew Redd) (here)
Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (here)
Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (here)
Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (here)
South Bend Tribune Feature (Howard Dukes) (here)

Sister Act TWO!

2011-05-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased, honored, and humbled that The History Press - publisher of my recent book Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory - saw fit to extend me a contract for a new book project, tentatively entitled Galveston and the Civil War: An Island People in the Maelstrom.

You can read more about the book project and what I hope to accomplish here.

As it turns out, the Notre Dame project and the Galveston project share something in common: the role of Catholic sister-nurses!

I have written about the Holy Cross sister-nurses of Notre Dame and St. Mary's Academy several times on this blog (here, here, and here).

While the Holy Cross sister-nurses represented one of the largest contingents of Catholic sisters to serve as nurses, the sisters in Galveston - of the Ursuline order - represented one of the smallest, if not the smallest, contingent, but their contributions and sacrifices were no less important and their bravery no less intrepid.

According to the "Handbook of Texas Online":

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. 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.

See also at the "Handbook":

Ursuline Sisters
HARRINGTON, MARGARET [MOTHER ST. PIERRE]

I am really looking forward to telling their story as part of this new project!

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 Archives of the Central Province of the Ursuline Sisters, and a rarely-used archival source that I will feature in a future blog post! If you have other ideas, let me know!

Holy Cross Sisters: Navy Nurse Pioneers!

2011-04-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

I have posted before (here and here) about the Holy Cross sisters of the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's Academy that served as nurses during the American Civil War (and I will be posting even more!)

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 from Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

PIONEERS

On Christmas Eve 1862, three Holy Cross sister-nurses boarded the USS Red Rover, the navy’s first floating hospital ship. According to the navy’s own official history, the women represented another important first: “[They] may truly be said to be the pioneers or forerunners of the United States Navy Nurse Corps as they were the first female nurses carried on board a United States Navy Hospital Ship.”(1)

Built in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1859, the Red Rover began its riverine life as a commercial side-wheel steamer. In late 1861, the Confederacy bought the steamer in New Orleans, renamed it CSS Red Rover and used it as an unarmed barracks for soldiers and sailors assigned to a nearby floating artillery battery. In early 1862, the Red Rover made its way up the Mississippi River but was abandoned a month after being damaged in a Union naval bombardment. Federals captured the ship, and following on-the-spot repairs, the steamer made its way to St. Louis, where the newly christened USS Red Rover was refitted as a floating hospital for the Western Gunboat Flotilla.

Mother Angela happily offered her sisters as nurses on the unique floating hospital, and when the Red Rover was transferred to the navy in late 1862, she sent Sister Veronica Moran, Sister Adela Reilly and Sister Callista Pointan from the Mound City hospital for service on the steamer. They were joined by two African American women, who served under their direction. Other Holy Cross sisters also served on the steamer, but Sister Veronica and Sister Adela served continuously until November 1865. The sister-nurses earned fifty cents per day (ten cents more than their counterparts in the army), though they were subject to the same irregular pay as soldiers and sailors (in a hospital account book, Mother Angela chided: “The paymaster is generally very tardy, leaving an interval of several months between his appearances”).(2)

The Red Rover set out on December 29, 1862, leaving Mound City and passing down the river toward Memphis, then Helena, Arkansas, and finally to the Yazoo River, where it received orders to guard the mouth of the White River while the flotilla bombarded Arkansas Post (Fort Hindman), Arkansas, and transported troops to storm the fort; the wounded were transferred to the Red Rover after the successful assault. Even though the Red Rover was a hospital ship, the steamer was armed and sometimes a target. On January 21, 1863, Rebel artillery fired on the Red Rover, and two shots entered the hospital. Sister Adela recalled that during the Vicksburg campaign, the Red Rover “was near enough to hear the firing and also to see the boats running the blockade.”(3)

The USS Red Rover and its Holy Cross sister-nurses were featured in a handsome series of engravings in the May 9, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly. The caption declared:

This institution…is under the charge of Surgeon George H. Bixby and Dr. Hopkins, and is an untold comfort to our sick or wounded sailors. The sketch shows the main ward, in which are accommodations for over two hundred patients. The Sister is one of those good women whose angelic services have been sung by poets and breathed by grateful convalescents all the world over. The convalescents are placed in a ward for their sole use, where they smoke, read, and generally enjoy themselves. The boat itself, a clean, roomy craft, is under the command of a gallant old sailor.(4)

In addition to being a generous and contemporary tribute, the engravings are thought to be the only wartime depictions of the Holy Cross sister-nurses in action.

Notes:

(1). E. Kent Loomis, “History of the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Red Rover,” Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Division of Naval History, Ships’ History Section, Report No. OP 09B9, 1961, 7.
(2) Mary D. Maher, To Bind Up the Wounds: Catholic Sister Nurses in the U.S. Civil War (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999), 91.
(3) Barbara M. Wall, “Grace Under Pressure: The Nursing Sisters of the Holy Cross, 1861–1865,” Nursing History Review 1 (1993): 80.
(4) Harper’s Weekly, “The Naval Hospital Boat ‘Red Rover,’” May 9, 1863, 299.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HOLY CROSS SISTER-NURSES IN NOTRE DAME AND THE CIVIL WAR MARCHING ONWARD TO VICTORY!

Holy Week 1864 with Notre Dame's Fr. Cooney

2011-04-22T11:53:00.001-07:00

I have profiled Notre Dame Holy Cross priest Fr. Peter P. Cooney in previous posts (here and here).

As mentioned in those previous posts, soon after joining his regiment, Fr. Cooney 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 habits – of some important military personalities of the war, especially General William Rosecrans.

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 “The War Letters of Father Peter Paul Cooney of the Congregation of the Holy Cross,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, 1933. The archives also maintains his wartime diary.

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:

Blue Springs, Tennesse (near Cleveland, Tenn.)
April 26, 1864

My dear Brother:

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 even a few lines. My health is and has been very good, thanks be to God.

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.

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. He is extremely kind to me.

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 ten inches of snow on the level. Though it lasted but a few days, it was very damp and chilly.

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.

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 consented 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.

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.

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...

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.

Your affectionate brother,

P.P. Cooney, Chaplain
25th Reg. Ind. Vol.

[P.S.]

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.

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 further advanced than it is at this time in Michigan.

The First Days of the Civil War at Notre Dame - Part II - A Spirit of Fire

2011-04-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in Part I of this post (here), the first days of the Civil War were full of excitement at the University of Notre Dame.

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 Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) indicates that some of the students were indeed "on fire":

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 “full of a fiery patriotism that carried the audience with his enthusiasm,” one historian declared. Years later, the Notre Dame Scholastic recalled the thrilling scene:

"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."

Lynch then returned to Notre Dame, where as one report stated, he “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.” 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.

Sources:

Timothy E. Howard, A History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, vol. 2 (Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1907), p. 716; Notre Dame Scholastic, November 18, 1899, pp. 176-77.

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.

The First Days of the Civil War at Notre Dame - Part I - "Blood and Thunder"

2011-04-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

One of Notre Dame's very first graduates - Neal Gillespie (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 here).

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 Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010):

“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,” 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. “Some of the students perhaps will go to fight the battles of their country,” he added but guessed that “the number will…be very small.” He reported, with chagrin, that “the excitement has sadly interfered with the lessons of some of the hotheaded ones” but wrote with admiration of two young boys—family friends—who “[took] the matter coolly, as sensible young men” and did not “exhibit a very bellicose spirit nor vapor much about ‘blood and thunder’ and the ‘cannon roar’ and such like.”

Source: Letter, Neal Gillespie to mother, April 19, 1861, Thomas EwingManuscripts (CEWI), Box 3, University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA).]

I will post more this week about how the students of Notre Dame reacted to the news of Fort Sumter!

Notre Dame's Civil War Roll of Honor - Cassius M. Brelsford : A Promising Life, Cut Short

2011-04-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned in previous posts and in the Preface of my book, Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), I have a long-term goal of cataloging and researching Notre Dame's Civil War student-soldiers.

You can find an initial list here

My previous student-soldier profiles are listed below:

John C. Lonergan - 58th Illinois Infantry (here)
Timothy E. Howard - 12th Michigan Infantry (here)
Frank Baldwin - 44th Indiana Infantry (here and here)
Felix Zeringue - 30th Louisiana Infantry (CSA) (here)
Michael Quinlan - 27th Virginia Infantry (CSA) (here and here)
Thomas E. Lonergan - 90th Illinois Infantry (here)
Orville T. Chamberlain - 74th Indiana Infantry (here and here)

There are many more profiles to come!

Today's post introduces readers to another Notre Dame Civil War student-soldier - Pvt. Cassius M. Brelsford, Co. F., 113th Illinois Infantry.

As it turns out, it's the story of a most promising young man who died too young to fulfill that promise.

A biography and selected images from his compiled military service record are below. In addition to my own research, my search was aided immensely by the kind folks at the Archives of the University of Notre Dame (UNDA) (as always!), the great folks at CivilWarDocs.com -esp. Jay Odom - who retrieved the Compiled Service Military Record, and the Iroquois County Genealogical Society, who provided a copy of his obituary.

As with other attempts to identify Notre Dame's student-soldiers, my strategy is thus:

1) Look at the Notre Dame catalogs just before and during the war
2) Identify students whose studies ended upon the start - or shortly thereafter - of the war
3) Confirm whether they might have been a soldier using the National Park Service Civil War Soldier and Sailor System
4) Find other confirmation (state muster rolls, etc.) to match muster-in hometown with Notre Dame catalog information
5) Verify further with any other biographical information to connect the soldier to Notre Dame
6) Final confirmation (if needed) by securing pension, military record, and enrollment details

So here goes...

1) Using the UNDA's excellent Student Index (1849-1912), I was drawn to the following student: Cassius M. Brelsford (what a GREAT name, right?!)...his enrollment ended in 1862, during the war years, which made him a candidate for a student-soldier.

2) Cassius Brelsford also appears in the 1861-62 Notre Dame Catalog (full text available on Google Books here). By all accounts, he was one of the top students at the University, taking many of the top honors at the 1862 commencement, including:

3) A "Cassius M. Brelsford" does appear in the NPS's Civil War Soldier and Sailor System and in the http://www.ilsos.gov/genealogy/, and his listed UND hometown of "Middleport, IL" is in Iroquois County, IL.

4) Here is a summary of the 113th Illinois Infantry from the NPS:

Organized at Camp Hancock, near Chicago, Ill., and mustered in October 1, 1862. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn., November 6, 1862. Attached to 1st Brigade, District of Memphis, Tenn., Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Department of the Tennessee, November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Memphis, 13th Army Corps, to December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition to January, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to August, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to November, 1863. Post of Corinth, Miss., 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1864. 2nd Brigade, District of Memphis, Tenn., 16th Army Corps, to June, 1864. 2nd Brigade, Sturgis' Expedition, June, 1864. 1st Brigade, Post of Memphis, District of West Tennessee, to February, 1865. Unatta ched, Post of Memphis, District of West Tennessee, to June, 1865.

SERVICE.-Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign. "Tallahatchie March," November 26-December 12, 1862. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862-January 2, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-10. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. (Cos. "C," "D," "F," "I" and "K" guard prisoners North after Arkansas Post, and retained in Illinois on guard duty till October, 1864, when rejoined Regiment at Memphis, Tenn.) Moved to Young's Point, La., January 17-22, and duty there till March. Expedition to Rolling Fork, Miss., via Muddy, Steele's and Black Bayous and Deer Creek March 14-27. Near Deer Creek March 22. Demonstration on Haines' and Drumgould's Bluffs April 29-May 2. Movement to Jackson, Miss., via Grand Gulf, May 2-14. Jackson May 14. Champion's Hill May 16. Siege of Vick sburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Surrender of Vicksburg July 4. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn.; thence to Corinth, Miss., and Post duty there till January, 1864. At Memphis, Tenn., till June, 1865. Sturgis' Expedition into Mississippi June 1-13, 1864. Near Colliersville, Tenn., June 10. Brice's (or Tishamingo) Creek, near Guntown, Miss., June 10. Ripley June 11. Repulse of Forrest's attack on Memphis August 21, 1864. Eastport, Miss., October 10, 1864. Mustered out June 20, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 1 Officer and 25 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 4 Officers and 273 Enlisted men by disease. Total 303.

5) His Compiled Military Service Record was very rich (and believe me: sometimes they just aren't), even though - by the time he joined in lat e 1863 - he had missed most of the action, it still includes some wonderful biographical material. It appears that Brelsford spent a good deal of time away from his regiment while on detached duty as a clerk at Headquarters:

6) My favorite piece of correspondence in his service record is this letter written by Brelsford himself; notice the appeal to his "collegiate education" and also his willingness to serve his additional year, even though unfit for regular duty.

7) This disability/discharge certificate may provide some clues as to why Brelsford served as a clerk instead of as a soldier in the ranks. He developed a lung complication which the surgeon attributed to Brelsford's service. Note that "incipient phthisis" was a mid-19th century clinical term for "consumption" or "tuberculosis."

8) Cassius M. Brelsford left the service and embarked on a promising career, first as a druggist and general store manager at home in Illinois, and then in New York, working his way up to an officer of the "American Literary Bureau," one of the leading speaking and literary agencies of the day. In one interesting - and as yet unexplained - "twist of fate," famed actress Laura Keene - made even more famous by her appearance in "Our American Cousin" on the night of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination - once sued Brelsford for $15,000 for libel in his capacity as an officer with the Bureau.

9) However - as mentioned above - a promising young man's life was cut short by the disease that he contracted in the service. Brelsford died in 1873, only eight years after the war. His obituary was carried in the New York papers, his hometown Iroquois Times and Onarga Review, and also copied in the Notre Dame Scholastic:

DIED - At the Grand Central Hotel, New York City, December 18, 1873, CASSIUS M. BRELSFORD, of pulmonary disease. Aged 28 years.

Cassius M. Brelsford was born at Decatur, Indiana. Was educated at Notre Dame University. Removed to Illinois a few years before the war, and in 1862 enlisted in Capt. Bridge's company (F.) of the 113 Illinois Infantry. Of rather a delicate constitution, camp-life did not agree with him, and he was detailed as a clerk at Gen. Geo. H. Thomas's headquarters at Nashville, Tenn., where he served until mustered out; the general and his subordinate officers giving him letters of the highest recommendation, and his office associates presenting him with many tokens of esteem.

Returning to the North, he associated himself with his father, Dr. Joseph Brelsford, in the druf business, afterword, in company with with Mr. V. W. Dashiell, embarking in the nook and stationery business, the form starting the first news depot in Onarga. His interest in this establishment was purchased by Mr. Dashiell, and Mr. Brelsford moved to Wilmington, Will county, where he started a drug and stationery store.

About three years ago he entered the service of theAmerican Literary Bureau, accepting a subordinate position. His business qualifications soon attracted the attention of the managers, and he was promoted to the position of General Manager, with headquarters in New York. He held that position for about a year, when he was elected President, filling the office until death relieved him of his earthly cares. His associate officers in the Bureau seemed to have no envy upon his promotion over them, each and everyone of them recognizing his ability to fill the position with which he was honored. His directorship received the highest encomiums from all sides, the lecturers, particularly, bestowing praise upon his admirable management of their business with the public.

When the disease assumed a serious aspect telegrams were daily received from such men as Wendell Phillips, Bret Harte, and other eminent literary men, all showing great interest in his condition.

During his illness, the families of his brother officers vied with each other in contributing to his comfort, and the best medical skill was employed. The disease, however, had taken too strong a hold upon him, and he died, as stated above on the 18th of December, cutting off a life of great promise.

The remains were brought to Onarga by the bereaved father, and were interred in the cemetery on Tuesday, the 23d. The funeral took place in the Episcopal Church and was attended by a large concourse of our citizens, who deeply symapthized with the sorrowing relatives.

Cassius M. Brelsford, University of Notre Dame, 113th Illinois Infantry, 1845-1873, Rest in Peace.

(To be continued: Cassius Brelsford's brother, Horace, was also a Notre Dame student and also a Union soldier in the 9th Illinois Cavalry...he will be profiled in the future).

The Perfect Gift for Civil War Catholic Sister-Nurses: Two Big Guns! What?!

2011-03-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Lift the great guns from the snows that enfold them,
Heat the great furnace,—War’s echoes must cease;
Swift in the might flames melt them and mould them
Into one image—Our Lady of Peace

Testaments to the epic story of Notre Dame in the Civil War can be found from the country’s capital city to an Indiana town to the battlefield at Gettysburg to the campus itself. Indeed, I have written before about the Baldwin monument in Elkhart, IN (here) and the Fr. Corby monument at Gettysburg (here and here).

Perhaps the most unusual (and earliest) of the memorials to the Notre Dame community's service in the Civil War were the twin captured Confederate cannons—named “Lady Polk” and “Lady Davis”—that found a home on the campus of St. Mary’s. The guns were large experimental rifled cannon, each more than ten feet long, weighing more than seven tons and designed to fire solid shot that weighed more than one hundred pounds. The guns were placed in Rebel forts on the Mississippi River but fell into the hands of the Union navy in early 1862. Later in the year, Commodore W.H. Davis, commanding the Western Flotilla, wrote the
following order:

"I wish you to stop at Island No. 10 and take on board the fragments
of a gun known as the Lady Davis, which burst in the hands of the
rebels. I wish you to stop again at Columbus and to take on board
the fragments of a gun known as the Lady Polk, which also burst
in the hands of the rebels…they are to be placed at the disposal of
Sister Angela, superior of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who are the
principal nurses in our military hospitals, and that they are to be recast into a statue of peace for one of the religious establishments of which Sister Angela is the superior. " (1)

The cannons were delivered to Cairo, Illinois, in the care of Captain A.W. Pennock, who wrote to Mother Angela that he would “be very happy to keep here the guns…subject to any directions or orders which you may think proper to give me.” The cannons were then transferred to the naval yard in Mound City, Illinois, where they remained for some time before finally finding their intended home at St. Mary’s. They sat on the grounds under the flagpole flying the Stars and Stripes, and students often had their photos taken sitting on the “Ladies.” (2)

Mother Angela’s original plans never came to pass: instead of being crafted into a monument of peace, the cannons actually went to war again. In September 1942, the sisters offered the guns to the government as salvage ore. Mr. L.J. Harwood—
chairman of the Salvage Committee, Civilian Defense Council, St. Joseph County, Indiana—wrote to thank the sisters and St. Mary’s Academy for their thoughtfulness:

"I frequently have occasion to observe people who possess a tremendous
amount of negative patriotism. That is, they are patriotic enough to give away some of their holdings if a large amount of pressure is put upon them. This gesture of yours, however, is quite different from this. I believe that you recognize that patriotism does not end until the object needed is finally secured. In this case the cannon are of no avail until they are melted, and if it had not been for your noble gesture, they probably would have remained on your campus until after the duration." (3)

In her 1881 collection, Crowned with Stars, poet Eleanor C. Donnelly paid tribute to the sisters’ wartime service and to their unique monument in “The Cannon in the Convent Grounds":

See, where they lie 'mid the frosts of the Winter,
Just as they lay 'mid the grasses and flowers
All these long Summers,— a War-breathing cen ter.
Mocking the calm of these woodlands of ours.

Nearly two decades of peace have been numbered
By Time (the old clerk) on his chaplet of years.
Since first in this sylvan seclusion they slumbered.
Sprinkled with blood-drops and shining with tears.

O'er the cold metal, now rusted and rimy.
Year after year the green mosses have crept;
Silvery sweet, thro' yon tubes, dark and grimy,
The bells of St. Mary's their echoes have swept.

Oft on those arches the robin sat singing
The song of the Spring to the mate on its nest;
Athwart the black nozzles, the Summer wind winging,
Breathed perfume and balm from the groves of the West,

Gently the dead leaves have fallen upon them
With delicate whispers of rest and release;
And even the snow-flakes, thick-fluttering on them.
Have swelled, in their turn, the soft chorus of Peace!

Come, put your ear to these lips, black and hoary.
List to this voice, breathing ruin no more;
The harsh tones grow sweet as they tell of the story
Of Mercy's blest part in the pageant of War;

Tell of the nuns of historic St. Mary's,
Binding the camp and the hospital bloom
With Heaven's own glory : like minist'ring fairies,
Shedding God's sunlight thro' suffering's gloom.

Floating, sweet saints, on the dark winding waters.
Alone with the wounded, the dying, the dead,
Christ of the Holy Cross ! bless Thy dear daughters,
Brave help of our heroes who battled and bled!

Lift the great guns from the snows which enfold them.
Heat the vast furnace,—War's echoes must cease;
Swift in the mighty flames melt them and mould them
Into one image — Our Lady of Peace !

Tranquil and tender from out the dark iron,
Soon the dear face on her children shall shine;
Grandeur and grace not of earth shall environ
The form of our Mother, the sinless, divine!

Trophies of Death in Life's' image dissolving,
Beautiful Peace veiling visions of gore,
Praise to our God! while the years are revolving,
Madonna of Peace ! thou shalt leave us no more! (4)

You can see photos and read more about this and other Notre Dame Civil War monuments in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

Notes:

(1) Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 23, 364–65; an excellent essay on the genesis of the guns, the misnomer of “Lady Davis” and their disposition can be found at John Ross, “Columbus, KY: Gibraltar of the West,” http://rosswar.blogspot.com.
(2) Anna S. McAllister, Flame in the Wilderness: Life and Letters of Mother Angela Gillespie, C.S.C., 1824–1887 (Paterson, NJ: St. Anthony Guild Press, 1944), 201.
(3) Ibid, 341.
(4) Eleanor C. Donnelly, Crowned With Stars (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University, 1881), 129–31.

Mother Angela - A VERY Rare and Exceptional Woman

2011-03-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

"[Mother Angela is] a woman of rare charm of manner, unusual ability, and exceptional executive talents.” - General Ulysses S. Grant

I have written on this blog about several aspects of Notre Dame's contributions and experiences during the Civil War, including the Holy Cross priests that served as chaplains, the students who served as soldiers, and life on campus.

Another interesting and essential part of the story is that of the Holy Cross sisters from Notre Dame and its sister-school, St. Mary's Academy, who served as nurses.

Just as Father Sorin proved to be a steady and inspiring influence to the students and Holy Cross priests and brothers at Notre Dame, so too did the Holy Cross sisters and St. Mary’s have an equally influential figure in Mother Angela Gillespie. Born in 1824 in Pennsylvania, Eliza Marie Gillespie was the daughter of a wealthy and prominent family. Her kin included brother Neal (Notre Dame’s first graduate) and the politically connected Ewing family of Ohio.

Eliza finished her early schooling in Washington, D.C. Beautiful,vivacious and energetic, she might have become politically connected and powerful herself through marriage, but instead she pursued a religious vocation and joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1853, taking the name Sister Angela. In addition to her piety and charity, Sister Angela also had considerable business and executive talents, having managed her stepfather’s farm. Father Sorin thought her the ideal candidate to be superior of St. Mary’s Academy, a position that she assumed in 1855.

The call for the Holy Cross sisters to serve as nurses came on the eveningof October 21, 1861, when a horseman galloped to the campus of Notre Dame carrying an urgent request for Father Sorin. Sorin read the message to himself and then, by the light of his lantern, walked over to St. Mary’s Academy. Once there, he asked for Mother Angela and read her the message. Within hours, she and five companions were bound bytrain for southern Illinois.

Mother Angela and her “little army” arrived in Cairo, Illinois, where they reported to General Ulysses S. Grant, who had his headquarters in the city. One of the sisters remembered meeting the famous general:

"[He] shook hands most heartily with each Sister. Over the hand of Mother Angela he bent with the chivalry of a soldier worthy of leading a host to victory. Looking at his visitor with a kindly smile, he said:“Mother Angela, I am very glad indeed to have you and your Sisters with us.”…[T]he general asked Mother Angela if she and her companion nurses could be ready to report for duty that night at the military hospital in Paducah [Kentucky]…[She replied] that he had but to express a wish and it would be obeyed at once."

The sisters left right away and arrived in Paducah that evening, where they met General Lew Wallace (whose request for sister-nurses had prompted the governor’s message to Father Sorin), who commanded a brigade and its three hospitals in the area. The surgeons were characteristically dubious of having women in their wards, but they were soon impressed with Mother Angela. She reorganized the wards “with almost military precision,” and the sisters scrubbed the floors free of blood, put fresh linen on the beds, bathed the sick and prepared an appetizing and nutritious diet in the kitchen.

In mid-December 1861, Mother Angela returned to St. Mary’s to gather another group of sisters.

One of the sisters remembered Mother Angela assisting a surgeon at the Mound City hospital:

"Mother Angela was assisting Doctor Franklin with a difficult operation, the precise accuracy of which would determine the life or death of a soldier. A little chloroform had to suffice to dull the agony of the probing. Both surgeon and assistant leaned intently over the patient. Suddenly a red drop fell on Mother Angela’s white coif. Another and still another fell until a small stream was seeping through the ceiling. But true to her Celtic ancestry Mother Angela remained motionless, with thoughts concentrated on the delicate surgery. At last the final stitch was taken; two heads rose simultaneously. Not until then did the doctor realize that a crimson rivulet from the floor above had fallen steadily upon our Mother’s devoted head, bathing coif, face, and shoulders in blood."

Over the course of the war, Mother Angela might be found scrubbing floors or assisting in surgery as desribed above, but even behind the scenes Mother Angela was exercising her considerable influence and executive abilities by placing trusted subordinates in charge of other hospitals and writing friends, strangers, officers and politicians for supplies. Perhaps, though, it was her example of confidence and humility that did the most good:

“There are some people who can inspire others to do what ordinarily speaking is impossible; Mother Angela was one of these,” one sister wrote. “Her faith and courage never recognized limitations; hence the nature, the magnitude of her achievements and those of her Sisters.”

You can read more about Mother Angela and the other Holy Cross sister-nurses in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

The Holy Cross History Association: An Excellent Resource

2011-03-21T11:56:00.001-07:00

At the heart of the story of the University of Notre Dame is the story of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, the founding Order of the university and the Order to which her brave Civil War chaplains and sister-nurses belonged, as told in my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

One of the great resources at my disposal while researching and writing the book was the Holy Cross History Association.

According to their website (here), the mission of the Association is to:

"...promote and stimulate historical study of and research on those religious communities which trace their origins to the Rev. Basil Moreau of LeMans, France; to discover, collect and preserve historical manuscripts; to print, publish and cause to be distributed, papers, books, writings, reports, articles and data bearing on or in any way relating to the Congregations of Holy Cross."

The Association accomplishes the goal by publishing a newsletter and sponsoring annual conferences (information about the 2011 conference can be found here).

Among their very best resources is the availability of the presentations given at the annual conferences at a very nominal cost (only $1 plus postage!).

A list of the papers is here and members also receive an excellent guide to the papers by person, place, or subject.

Just a few of the papers I found helpful were:

"Holy Cross Communities in the Civil War" by Rev. James T. Connelly, CSC, 16pp. (1993)
"Grace under Pressure: Sisters of the Holy Cross, 1861-1865" by Ms. Barbra Wall (2000)
"Holy Cross Military Chaplains in World War II" by Rev. Joseph A. Kehoe, CSC, 19pp (1995)

and others

Even if you are not writing about the Holy Cross order, Notre Dame, or specific personalities (priests, brothers, sisters, etc.) per se, do consider browsing the available papers because they might enrich other research you are doing, including regional studies, as the mission of the Congregation has since extended well beyond the campus of Notre Dame to include cities and institutions all across the country over the past almost 170 years.

Other resources on the website include an excellent Bibliography (PDF here) of over 100 pages and many hundreds of citations.

Membership is only $5 (here) and I have happily been a member for the past couple of years and will continue to support the Association as a member.

Many thanks to them for all that they do!

Patrick McNamara Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

2011-03-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Patrick McNamara for posting a very kind review (here) of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) on his popular "Musings of a Catholic Church Historian from Queens, New York" blog this week, just in time for St. Patrick's Day!

As I've mentioned before, one thing I was aiming for in this book was to craft a story (backed by good scholarship) that would appeal to multiple audiences: Civil War enthusiasts, Notre Dame almuni ("bona fide" and "subway), folks interested in the history of the Irish and Catholics in America, and more. As it turns out, Patrick can count himself among several of those intended audiences, and I am so pleased, honored, and humbled that he found merit in the book!

If you have a history blog yourself, check out his blog (here) and consider adding it to your blog roll (I did at my Civil War Medicine blog!)...it's TERRIFIC!

Indeed, Patrick brings some impressive bona fides to his blogging on the history of the Irish and Catholics in American History; from his biography at Patheos.com

Pat received his Ph.D. from Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C. A native of Queens, New York, Dr. Pat McNamara has attended Catholic schools from grammar through grad school and has taught Church History at St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, and at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington. His books include A Catholic Cold War: Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., and the Politics of American Anticommunism (2005); The Tablet: The First Hundred Years (2008); and Diocese of Immigrants: The Brooklyn Catholic Experience, 1853-2003 (2004). Pat has appeared in numerous publications, writing on American Catholic history. Pat was an archivist for the Brooklyn Diocese for ten years, and in 2008 was a consultant for the Museum of the City of New York's exhibit Catholics in New York.

You can read the entire review (here). Excerpts are below:

In his wonderful new book Notre Dame and the Civil War, James M. Schmidt tells the whole story of the university’s involvement in the Civil War, and it’s a great story. It covers the priest who served as army chaplains, the Sisters who served as nurses, and the students who fought in the field...

This book is concise and well written. The research is top-notch, and the photos and drawings are wonderful. I learned much I didn’t know...As the first detailed study of American Catholics and the Civil War, this is an important book.

But, perhaps more importantly, it’s an enjoyable book. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War, Irish American history, and the story of Catholics in America is going to love it. Notre Dame alumni will be especially interested. The arrival of St. Patrick’s Day, and with the Civil War sesquicentennial only a month away, makes this the perfect opportunity to purchase this great book, either for others or yourself.

Thanks, Patrick!

Read more reviews of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory:

Civil War News (here)

Civil War Librarian (Rea Andrew Redd) (here)

Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (here)

Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (here)

Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (here)

South Bend Tribune Feature (Howard Dukes) (here)

Notre Dame Civil War Chaplain Profile #4 - Fr. James M. Dillon

2011-03-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

Fr. Dillon and "The Temperance Regiment"

Father James Dillon was in the Northeast on university business in the summer of 1861. While there, he became acquainted with officers who were organizing and recruiting the 63rd New York VolunteerInfantry, which would become part of the famous “Irish Brigade” of the Army of the Potomac. The regiment—like the other core regiments of the brigade—was almost exclusively Catholic, and at the urging of its officers, Father Dillon volunteered to be the regimental chaplain. Father Dillon was “young, but of mature mind, and quite eloquent,” a fellow chaplain wrote, adding that he “was impulsive and ardent, and threw his whole soul into any good work he undertook.”

By all accounts, Father Dillon—more than any of Notre Dame’s priests—took particular care to “guard his boys against the prevailing vices.” The worst of these temptations was drunkenness, which was endemic to camp life in the army. In sermons, Father Dillon declared drinking to be the “father of all crimes,” especially among the Irish.To foster good behavior among the men, Father Dillon established a “Temperance Society,” and hundreds of the men in his regiment joined on the spot. The effects seemed immediately beneficial: attendance at religious service increased and incidents of “camp carousals” decreased. Father Dillon was so pleased that he arranged to distribute medals among the men who had taken the pledge.

Like all of the priests Notre Dame sent to minister to the soldiers, Father Dillon was cool under fire. “Father Dillon was always ready to take part in a skirmish or a ride throught he enemy’s country,” a brigade surgeon remembered. Indeed, in one instance, Father Dillon even managed to bring order out of chaos inthe heat of battle (albeit “outstepping the lines of his proper duty”) when he rallied the regiment at the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1,1862. The regiment was under fire, and its officers were hors du combat. There was great confusion as to whom they should obey. One of the men exclaimed, “This is Father Dillon’s regiment!” A chorus joined in, yelling, “Yes, yes! Give us Father Dillon!” The good chaplain came forward, assured the soldiers that he would remain with them and then calmly passed among the ranks, informing the men that they should obey the officer now in command.

Father Dillon was not even thirty years old when he joined the army;almost exactly a year later, he was honorably discharged. “Against the advice of the best army physicians he remained in the army much longer than he should have,” Father Sorin wrote a year later, explainingthat exposure in the camps had aggravated lung problems that Father Dillon had endured since his youth. “He went to Europe, but returned after twelve months in about the same state of health,” Father Sorin continued, adding that doctors had advised Father Dillon to travel to California and that “it will take a year to pronounce on the improvementin his health.”

Unfortunately, the relief did not come, and Father Dillon died of complications of his lung troubles only a few years later.

You can learn more about all of the brave priests from Notre Dame who served as chaplains in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory.

March 4, 1861 - Lincoln's Inauguration - A Letter from Notre Dame

2011-03-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today, March 4, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States of America.

Not coincidentally, it also sets the stage for my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), in which I use a letter written by student Orville T. Chamberlain, written on that very day. (You can learn more about Chamberlain in previous posts here and here).

The letter gives a wonderful picture of life on campus. It is part of a collection of more than eighty wartime letters that he wrote to home and friends, now held by the Indiana Historical Society, many of which are quoted in my book.

An excerpt from the Introduction to the book is below, followed by a transcript of that letter. Enjoy.

Excerpt:

On March 4, 1861, nineteen-year-old college student Orville Chamberlain wrote a letter home with the opening line: “We are having ‘recreation’ here this afternoon in honor of ‘Old Abe’s’ inauguration.” Apart from mention of the nation’s new president, there was no other hint of campus talk regarding news or politics. Indeed, the balance of his letter related to the timeless concerns of any college student: learning to live on his own, his classmates, his studies, the quality and quantity of the food and—of course—his need for money. When Confederate guns fired on Fort Sumter only weeks later, everything changed for Chamberlain and for his school, the University of Notre Dame.

In fact, few institutions of higher education can boast of the sacrifices made by the University of Notre Dame, which—like Orville Chamberlain—was only nineteen years old when the war began. Over the course of four years, Notre Dame gave freely of its faculty and students as soldiers, sent its Holy Cross priests to the camps and battlefields as chaplains and dispatched its sisters to the hospitals as nurses; some of the boys, men and women made the ultimate sacrifice and never returned. Though far from the battlefields itself, the war was still ever-present on campus, as Notre Dame witnessed fisticuffs among the student body, provided a home to the children of a famous general, responded to political harassment and tried to keep at least some of its community out of the fray. When the war was over, a proud Notre Dame welcomed back several bona fide war heroes—including Orville Chamberlain, who earned the Medal of Honor—and became home to a unique veteran’s organization.

The school’s participation in the Civil War established a tradition of “Fighting Irish” tenacity on the battlefield by its student-soldiers and spiritual strength imparted by its priests and sisters.

And now, the letter:

March 4, 1861

Dear Friends, We are having "recreation" here this afternoon in honor of "Old Abe's" inauguration and I thought perhaps you would ike to hear from me, so I take the present opportunity to write. I have almost no news to tell from the fact that nothing new happens here, and all the news we get from abroad come in the papers, at which you have a better chance than I do.

Mr. Schutt was down here a few days ago, but he stayed only a very few minutes. I did not see him to speak to him. Mr. Baldwin was here yesterday, it made the boys feel first-rate to see a familiar face.

I have got fairly domesticated here at last; it takes quite a considerable attention to "learn the ropes" here and even now I have to "do as the rest do" in a great many things. I am studying Algebra, Grammar, Geometry, and I have given up my Arithmetic and commenced German. I shall not study Latin at least for the present. I have fairly started and if my recitations come regularly I shall get along first rate. I occupy the desk next to Hardin and I find him to be a first rate seatmate.

Before I came away from home, Mr. Conn spoke about returning "Livingston's Africa." I expect it ought to be attended to. I expect all the Elkhart boys will go home about the last of March and I expect I will go with them, if I can. At that time there will be no school for about a week, and that will give me a chance to make quite a visit.

I like it pretty well here and would like to stay till I could write my name O.T.C., A.B., if I could. The boys large and small make a business of playing marbles, all their spare time, excepting the time they spend dancing.

Bro. Peter has cured his "rheumatiz" and is on hand again. Father Superior is gone to Chicago.

We have to attend church a great deal here; a week ago yesterday the remarks made suited me exactly.

I would like it Father, if you would send me a copy of "The Times," if convenient. I have plenty of time to read and but little reading matter.

Our diet here is not luxurious, unless you think "luxurious" to be derived from the Latin "lux" and make it partake of its original signification; still we are in no anger of starvation, and they get up pretty good dinners.

I don't use this paper because I like it but on account of the picture at the head of the letter, which is a pretty good picture of the place.

All the boys insist that (Elkhart boys I mean) the Exhibition on the eve of the 22d did not beat the Omega, very much, but for my part I liked it very well.

Father, you had better speak to Mr. Oakes (if you have not) about that public money, etc.

I have joined the Elocution class but have not declaimed yet.

You know the Dunkards make a great fuss over the ceremony of "feet washing" - well since writing the above they put benches in the playroom and we went in and went "through the mill." Each one had his pail of warm water and a towel.

There is an "office" in the college building where Books, Stationery, and Toilet articles are kept. A new consignment of goods came today.

Father Gillespie reads "notes" every Sabbath evening for lessons, duties, and conduct. My notes were Grammar and Algebra - 2.2.1. Conduct and Geometry -1, pretty good notes.

I got week before last's "Review" yesterday morning and thought it quite interesting. By the way, I suppose you continue to get it regularly, send Tully up after it if you do not.

My health is and has been first rate. Did you have good luck in finding Chord, and if you did not couldn't you write me instructions what to do and how to do it and let me attend to it some recreation day.

Please write and let me know how you are all getting along and tell me all the news - particularly the good news. Please present my compliments to all the friends - providing I have any - and don't forget to write.

O.T. Chamberlain

Tuesday Morning

P.S. - It is pretty good sleighing here this morning and the weather is cold enough to make a person feel quite uncomfortable. Every Sunday and every Wednesday we have to black our boots. It's a great disadvantage to have big feet, for just as I get one foot done we are called to take our places in the ranks. During recreation hours we cannot go into the Study room unless upon particular business and vice versa. I finished last night the first half of the first book of Geometry.

Wednesday Morning

"Do nothing by halves," so I write this letter in thirds. I received your letter last evening and was very glad to get it. Father Dillon says he will take all Illinois money, but the 4 or 5 banks that are thrown out. I guess I can get along without the Drawers. But I must close or I shall not get my letter sent today. Father Dillon says he will send the note up to the Bank. Tell the children I would like to have them write me a letter.

Yours in a hurry.

A REAL "Band of Brothers" - Part II - A Unique GAR Post!

2011-02-25T08:51:00.001-08:00

In my previous post (here), I described how some veterans came to Notre Dame after the Civil War to join the Congregation of the Holy Cross as priests or brothers of the order, forming a literal "Band of Brothers."

In Part II of "A REAL 'Band of Brothers'" below, I provide an excerpt from my book Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) in which I describe how the veterans at Notre Dame founded a very unique post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Enjoy!

EXCERPT:

In the autumn of 1897, the remaining Civil War veterans in the classrooms and halls of Notre Dame decided to join the ranks again,this time by forming their own post—a very special one, in fact—of the country’s most active Union veterans’ organization, the Grand Armyof the Republic (GAR)...a newspaper reported that fall. Besides the notable personalities, Notre Dame’s chapter—Post No. 569—was unique because it was the only one in the country composed entirely of ordained priests or professed religious men as members.

On the evening of October 5, 1897, the Auten Post members of the GAR of nearby South Bend, Indiana, marched in a body from their homes and filed into Washington Hall on campus for the inaugural ceremonies. The university band played a march as the enthusiastic crowd that had waited outside the hall began to enter. Father Peter P.Cooney—installed as chaplain of the new post—offered a heartfelt and patriotic prayer...

Father William Corby—elected commander—then gave a welcoming address followed by additional speeches given by visiting dignitaries.The formal part of the ceremony being over, the balance of the evening was given to sharing war stories and tales of amusement. General St.Clair Mulholland, Father Corby’s old friend and comrade in the Irish Brigade—who had come eight hundred miles to attend—obliged by giving an address full of good Irish humor...

The evening concluded with the reading of telegrams of congratulation from around the country...and a closing address from Father Morrissey, president of Notre Dame, who declared his own pride in the school’s Civil War record...

You can read Fr. Cooney's prayer, Gen. Mulholland's hearty Irish humor, and Fr. Morrissey's closing remarks in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory.

Below, I happily share an excerpt from a typical newspaper (from the Atlanta Constitution, of all places!) report of the ceremonies:

__________________________________________

Atlanta Constitution

November 7, 1897

PRIESTS FORM A G. A. R. POST

The Most Unique Organization of Old Soldiers in the World

All Did Gallant Deeds

Notre Dame, Ind., November 6.—In no country of the world is there to be found a more interesting and unique aggregation of battle-scarred veterans than those forming the very latest post to be added to the Grand Arniy of the Republic, which will be known as Post 569, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Indiana. The commander of the post is the Very Rev. William Corby, by whose consent the story of its conception and formation is made public.

The members of the new post are all brothers and priests of the Order of the Holy Cross of the University of Notre Dame. In all the members number only eleven, but among them are men who have won imperishable fame and honor and whose records are the most renowned of the war. In the autumn of life, with the days of battle, bullets and bayonets long since passed into a mere memory, these old veterans have suddenly awakened in the quiet of their university home to the fact that there is a forgotten band of sympathy between them. All had gone to the front in the sixties and fought valiantly and with distinction. What more appropriate than that they should organize themselves into a post of the Grand Army? A meeting was called and arrangements made for the formal mustering in of the new post with a fitting amount of enthusiasm.

At 7 o'clock of the evening of October 5th the priest post was declared a part of the Grand Army, amid much cheering, speechmaking and flag-waving. The immense concourse of people who gathered to cheer the soldier priests saw under the folds of the flags that were draped on the platform a collection of as splendid specimens of humanity as ever paced the ranks of a veteran army. In the center beamed the genial face of post commander, the Very Rev. W. Corby, once chaplain of the Eighty-eighth New York Volunteers, known in war times as the "Irish Brigade."...

To the right of the brave old chaplain was brother W. A. Olmstead, formerly lieutenant colonel, Second Infantry, New York Volunteers, and colonel of the Fifty-ninth New York Veteran Volunteers. He is the surgeon and adjutant of the new post...

To Commander Corby's left sat Peter Paul Cooney, chaplain of the post. Father Cooney was formerly chaplain of the Thirty-fifth Indiana regiment, followed the fortunes of the regiment through the war...

Next to Father Cooney sat Brother John Chrysostom, a stalwart, white-bearded old soldier, whose comrades of the army knew him by his fighting name of Mark A. Wills, of the First Company, Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers...he served all through the war and took part in many of the fiercest battles.

At the other end of the front row sat the grave and scholarly-looking face of Brother Leander was seen. Officers and men who are living will know him as James McLain, of the Twenty-fourth Infantry, United States regular army. Brother Leander is the only member of the post whoas a soldier by profession when the war broke out.

In the rear rank stood Brother Benedict whom the gunners of the First Pennsylvania Artillery knew as James Mantels, a brave and gallant soldier. Next to him stood Brother Ignatius, who before he retired from the world, was known as Igntaz Mayer, and as such participated in many a hotly contested charge with the boys of the 157th Pennsylvania regiment...

He was flanked on the platform by Brother Raphael, a priestly looking man who in his younger days was a dare-devil soldier of the One Hundred and Thirty-First Pennsylvania regiment. The white beards of Brother Cosmos, formerly Nicholas A. Bath of the Tenth Maryland Regiment and Brother Eustachius, once known as John Mclnerny, of the Eighty-third Ohio regiment, completed the line.

Telegrams of congratulations from all over the country were read after the cheers that greeted the mustering in of the new Post had subsided and souvenir tin cups were distributed around when the exercises closed in memory of the days when hard tack was considered a dainty and tin cups were deemed a luxury.

After the enthusiastic ceremonies were over the soldier priests returned to the quiet of tbeir university home, but not to be allowed to forget the mustering night. They have been reminded of it by the receipt of letters and telegrams from every part of the continent; letters from old comrades of whom the quiet-living priests have long since lost sight; letters of congratulation and messages of warm esteem from the members of the fast dwindling army that is bound by the unbreakable chain of campfire comradeship. It will be long before Notre Dame resumes its plain life again.

________________________________

The Archives of the University of Notre Dame (here) still maintain the records (here) of the unique GAR Post, including handwritten minutes, correspondence, clippings, and photographs, all used in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory.

A REAL "Band of Brothers" - Part I

2011-02-23T13:21:00.001-08:00

"It is not strange…that after the war not a few of the disbanded soldiers and officers found their way as priests and brothers into the ranks of the Community, the heroism of whose members they had admired on the field and in the hospital." - Notre Dame Scholastic, March 31, 1906

Among the really interesting stories connecting the University of Notre Dame and the American Civil War is one that happened after the war: veterans who came to the university to join the Congregation of the Holy Cross as priests or brothers of the order and then performed duties at the university.

They formed a literal "Band of Brothers."

Typical was Brother Leander (James McLain), who entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1872. Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 1842, he served through three years of the Civil War with the 15th United States Infantry as a private and was engaged at the Battles of Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Atlanta. Brother Leander was prefect of one of the halls and taught classes for many years at the university.

One of the most interesting stories is that of Mark A. Wills, who took the name of Brother John Chrysostom. Wills had fought with the 54th Pennsylvania, a unit that saw significant action in the eastern theater during the last year of the Civil War, including the Battle of New Market, the capture of Fort Gregg and the pursuit of Lee to Appomattox, where the 54th was captured in the last week of the war (though released a few days later). In at least one of those fights, Wills was sufficiently shaken to make a battlefield vow to join a religious order should he survive.

You can read a previously unpublished letter by Brother John about that vow in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

The most distinguished record among the new arrivals belonged to William A. Olmsted. Born in Albany, New York, in 1834, Olmsted received his MD from Howard University. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he raised one of the state’s first volunteer companies for the 2nd New York Infantry and was elected captain; he quickly earned a promotion to lieutenant colonel. He then served as commander of the 59th New York Infantry and a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, where he was brevetted a brigadier general of volunteers. After
the war, Olmsted served in a medical capacity in the forts on the upper Missouri River, where he became close to (and respected by) the Sioux in his care. Olmsted then entered the Holy Cross community at Notre Dame in the 1890s, studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1901.

I will feature more on Fr. Olmsted in a future post.

Others among the "Band of Brothers" at Notre Dame included:

Brother Cosmas (Nicholas A. Bath)—2nd United States Artillery
Brother Raphael (James C. Maloy)—133rd Pennsylvania infantry
Brother Eustachius (John McInerny)—83rd Ohio Infantry
Brother Benedict (James Mantle)—1st Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery
Brother Ignatius (Ignatz Mayer)—75th and 157th Pennsylvania Infantry
Brother Agatho (Joseph Staley)—8th Indiana Infantry
Brother Richard (William Stoney)—38th New Jersey Infantry
Brother Polycarp (James White)—United States Navy
Brother Sebastian (Thomas Martin) - 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry

(Note: these regimental assignments were gleaned from published school histories and postwar newspaper accounts...I have been able to verify most of them but am still working on a few. Note that I have also seen multiple spellings for some of the surnames).

Stay tuned for my next post..."Band of Brothers" - Part II - A Unique GAR Post!

"The Civil War News" reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

2011-02-17T09:28:00.001-08:00

I'm pleased to announce that The Civil War News published a very kind review of my third book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

The review was penned by Mr. John Foskett - a Boston attorney, Notre Dame graduate ('73), and Civil War enthusiast - in the Feb/March 2011 issue, which is now in subscribers' hands! Many thanks to Mr. Foskett and Civil War News!

As with the Civil War News reviews of my previous, books Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War (Edinborough Press, 2008) and Years of Change and Suffering: Modern Perspectives on Civil War Medicine (Edinborough Press, 2009), this review of Notre Dame and the Civil War is special because Civil War News is where I got my writing "bona fides," as I've penned the "Medical Department" column on a regular basis since 2000. CWN editor/publisher Kay Jorgensen (and her late husband, Pete) has been extremely supportive of my writing and research efforts over the years, which I appreciate very much, indeed.

If you don't subscribe to Civil War News, you should! You can learn how to get a sample issue (here).

The full review is (here) and excerpts are below!

"...James Schmidt has done extensive research in the Indiana school’s archives and has produced a short book that documents Notre Dame’s generally unknown and extraordinary contribution to the Northern war effort despite its still-fledgling status after its 1842 founding.

This short, well-written book reflects excellent research, mostly in primary sources, including the university’s archives...

...a worthwhile portrait of the committed role played by a Northern college in the Civil War...

This is a unique addition to the growing body of literature about contributions to the war effort by educational institutions such as Harvard and Yale. Not many were as deeply immersed as Notre Dame, and this book makes that point in a highly readable fashion."

Read more reviews of Notre Dame and the Civil War:

Civil War Librarian (Rea Andrew Redd) (here)

Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (here)

Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (here)

Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (here)

South Bend Tribune Feature (Howard Dukes) (here)

The "Civil War Librarian" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

2011-02-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

I want to thank Rea Andrew Redd, aka "The Civil War Librarian" for posting a very kind review of my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory, on his blog today.

You can read the entire review here. Excerpts are below.

Rea is Professor, Waynesburg University, Director of the university's Eberly Library, and an Adjunct instructor in U.S. history. He is also a member of the Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves, Pennsylvania Reserves Division, and the Chesapeake Volunteer Guard living history units. His areas of interest and study include Civil War medicine, Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Army Signal Corps, and antebellum politics.

Make sure you check out his excellent blog (here)...Rea updates it frequently and always has great reviews of new Civil War books, television, and cinema, and other news on Civil War history (I know, because I'ma loyal reader!).

Thanks, Rea!

Excerpt:

Notre Dame is well served by Schmidt's clear, concise and well cited monograph. On each page is an anecdote that provides insight to the personalities and the climate of the opinions among the students and faculty...Other institutions would be lucky to find writers such as Schmidt to tell the story of their war years.

Other Reviews:

Almost Chosen People/The American Catholic (Don McClarey) (here)

Confederate Book Review (Robert Redd)(review and interview!) (here)

Irish in the American Civil War (Damian Shiels) (here)

South Bend Tribune Feature (Howard Dukes) (here)

Notre Dame's Civil War "Roll of Honor" - John C. Lonergan

2011-02-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned in previous posts and in the Preface of my book, Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), I have a long-term goal of cataloging and researching Notre Dame's Civil War student-soldiers.

You can find an initial list (here).

My previous student-soldier profiles are listed below:

Timothy E. Howard - 12th Michigan Infantry (here)

Frank Baldwin - 44th Indiana Infantry (here and here)

Felix Zeringue - 30th Louisiana Infantry (CSA) (here)

Michael Quinlan - 27th Virginia Infantry (CSA) (here and here)

Thomas E. Lonergan - 90th Illinois Infantry (here)

Orville T. Chamberlain - 74th Indiana Infantry (here and here)

There are many more profiles to come.

Today's post introduces readers to another Notre Dame Civil War student-soldier - 1st Lt. John C. Lonergan, Co. H., 58th Illinois Infantry.

A brief capsule biography and selected images from his compiled military service record are below.

John C. Lonergan was a native of Batavia, Illinois. He attended Notre Dame from 1855 to 1857 and again from 1859 to 1861, where—among other activities and studies—he was vice-president of the Dramatic Society. Lonergan mustered in with the 58th Illinois Infantry as a first lieutenant in Company H on February 7, 1862, only days before the regiment shipped out for Fort Donelson. He was wounded and captured during the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and taken to Montgomery, Alabama, where he was kept a prisoner until he died of his wounds on May 28, 1862. May he rest in peace.

Note in the images below from his service record that Lonergan's commander was Col. William F. Lynch. Lynch was also a Notre Dame student and will be featured in a future profile.

You can learn more about Notre Dame's brave student-soldiers in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory.

Muster-In Sheet:

May/June 1862 Muster Roll Indicates Lonergan Was Captured at Shiloh:

July/August 1862 Muster Roll Indicates Lonergan Died While a POW:

Service Record Casualty Sheet:

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - The Sword of Meagher - Part II

2011-01-31T05:44:00.000-08:00

In my previous post (here) I included some photos of the Civil War sword of the Irish Brigade's intrepid leader, General Thomas F. Meagher. The photos were taken by friends of mine who had the opportunity to visit the Archives of the University of Notre Dame.

The purpose of this post is to describe the ceremony in which the sword was given to the university in 1914, and - in doing so - illustrate Notre Dame's connections with Meagher and the Irish Brigade and why the university is indeed a fitting place for it to rest.

The report of the presentation of the sword was covered in newspapers from Maine to New York to Pennsylvania to Indiana to Texas to Montana, and points in between. Typical of the coverage was this small item on the front page of the March 5, 1914, issue of The Gettysburg (PA) Times:

My favorite, though, was a report the same day in a Wisconsin newspaper (Stevens Point Daily Journal) that tied the record of Meagher and the Irish Brigade with that of Notre Dame's Civil War student-soldiers and the Holy Cross priests it sent as chaplains, and predicted the day - not too far off - when her sons and priests would again be sent to fight, this time in the Great War:

"While the heroic deeds of the men of the Irish brigade were the ones of which the orators had the most to say,it was not of them alone that they spoke. Rev. Father Corby, one of the presidentsof Notre Dame, who had given the brigade absolution for the dying as it rushed forward to meet Lee's veterans at Gettysburg, shared with Meagher in the honors of the evening. When Roger C. Sullivan, acting as chairman, predicted that if another war should break out Notre Dame would furnish both Corbys and Meaghers to the nation, the applause was the greatest."

Details on the actual ceremony were re-printed from the Notre Dame Scholastic in the Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society (Vol. XIII, 1914, pp. 320-331). A link to the entire article is here...excerpts are below.

In the speeches you will read how the sword passed from Meagher to his widow to a fervent admirer of Meagher, to the admirer's niece, and finally to the university.

More important, you will read why they thought Notre Dame the perfect resting place for Meagher's sword.

Read also the letter from one of the bishops who could not attend the ceremony but still has a poignant message, indeed.

Enjoy!

PRESENTATION OF THE SWORD OF GENERAL MEAGHER

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

MARCH 4, 1914

The ceremonies that marked the presentation of the sword of General Thomas Francis Meagher to the University of Notre Dame, like the life and works they commemorated, were simple, dignified and beautiful. Accompanied by an escort of honor, consisting of the commissioned officers of the cadet regiment, a color guard, a rifle squad, and a detail of first sergeants, the sword was borne through the aisles of Washington Hall, to the stage, where the officers saluted, the guard presented arms, and the buglers sounded the stirring martial strains that had so often inspired the gallant men of General Meagher's own command, the immortal Irish Brigade.

Father Cavanaugh introduced the chairman of the meeting, Hon. Roger C. Sullivan of Illinois, who presented Senator Walsh of Montana.

Senator Walsh's Speech Of Presentation

Mr. Chairman, Right Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Faculty of the University, Assembled Students, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am charged with the very delightful duty of presenting to this ancient and honorable institution the unsullied sword of General Thomas Francis Meagher, the gifted orator, the zealous patriot, the redoubtable warrior, the genial and cultured gentleman. Associations hallowed and unusual cluster about him.
On the pedestal of a magnificent equestrian statue of this singularly brilliant genius, erected in the grounds of the capital at Helena, my home, is chiseled his eloquent exordium upon the sword, delivered when he was a young man just out of college...

By what strange combination of circumstances has it come to pass that I, a citizen of the remote state of Montana, am permitted now to confide to this University this interesting relic? ...He came to the territory in September of 1865 under appointment by President Johnson as secretary of the territory, but in the absence of the governor he became, and remained until his untimely death on the first of July, 1867, its acting governor...

Conspicuous among the throng of Meagher's friendly contemporaries was one Andrew—universally referred to as Andy— O'Connell. Andy came to Terre Haute, in this State, as a boy, and as far west as Leavenworth, Kan., before he arrived at his majority. That region had not yet arrived at the dignity of statehood when he joined the rush to Pike's Peak. He maintained his headquarters on the site of the present city of Denver until he joined the stampede to Montana in 1864....

He was fiercely Irish, and he worshiped Meagher. His unobtrusive kindness in her affliction, at the time of General Meagher's death, endeared him to Mrs. Meagher, and when she was about to leave to return to the home of her parents and friends in the state of New York, she left with him this prized sword. She died childless without giving any directions as to its disposition. Andy, some ten years ago, crossed the divide, leaving his earthly treasures, including this sword, to his niece whom he had brought out from Terre Haute during the early 70's when she was a girl.

It is by the direction of this lady, Mrs. Catherine Young, of Kalispel, Mont., that I now confide it to this University of Notre Dame.

I confess to you that I made an effort to persuade her to present it to the University of my own State...But she remembered with affection and with pride this seat of learning nearer her own birthplace and would not be moved. Founded as it was, and maintained as it is, by an order of teachers like that from which Meagher secured the training that made him a world-famed orator at the early age of twenty-two, and for which he ever retained the highest degree of affection, love and respect, I am forced to believe that he would have approved the choice.

Here let it rest, teaching the youth who repair to these halls that nobility of character is the only sure foundation of greatness; teaching them that the right is always in need of fearless champions, and that the talents that God gave us we are expected to prove to their utmost in order that we may attain to the end and earn the reward which he has in store for each of us.

Reverend Father Cavanaugh's Acceptance

Senator Walsh:—On behalf of the University I accept the sword of General Meagher. I promise it hospitable welcome, safe-keeping and reverent admiration. I thank you, Sir, for the kindly thought which inspired its presentation to this venerable University, which already shelters the old green flag of the Irish Brigade and with which the memory of Thomas Francis Meagher has always been imperishably connected.

For, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, there are special reasons why the sword of Meagher should find sanctuary within these hallowed walls.

The chief good of a university is not that it is a dispenser of knowledge or even a nursery of the common virtues of life. The chief good of a university is that it is a place where ideals survive. If a school dreams of material success as the brightest destiny her sons may achieve; if it sets up money-getting or place-hunting, or even refined and comfortable living, as the chief preoccupations of mankind, such a school deserves no more reverence than the counting-room, the marketplace or the hustings. But if the university tells her children that while large salaries and honorable place are desirable, they are not the whole, nor indeed the best, in life; if she teaches that as the life is more than the food and the body more than the raiment, so the fairest fruit of true education is to hunger and thirst after justice, to admire nobility of soul and strength of character and unselfish devotion to an unpopular but worthy cause, and to cherish dearer than life the ideals of Christian chivalry and Christian civilization—then is she truly Alma Mater, the fostering mother of the soul, finding her crown and glory in the wisdom and chivalry of her sons...

There is another reason why this sword finds fitting sanctuary at Notre Dame. When the passion of the hour flung the great Civil War athwart the imagination of men and the tears of women, the founder of this University, out of his poverty and his faith, out of the love of God and the love of God's children, sent to the lonely and imperiled soldiers fighting at the front seven of his ablest and noblest priests as chaplains. They were to leave the serene atmosphere of the lecture room for the terrors, and horrors of war, the pains and privations of camp and battlefield...Yet in this moment when we recall reverently the memory of the illustrious organizer and leader of the Irish Brigade, let us pause long enough to mention with honor the name of the noble chaplain, Father Corby, once a professor and president of this University, the friend and confessor of Meagher, who at the bloodiest moment of that bloody day at Gettysburg, gathered his men around him, and having made above them the sign of pardon which was ratified in heaven, hurled them full of faith and hope and courage against the chivalry of the South and added another glorious chapter to the history of human valor.

There is yet another reason why the sword of Meagher should be an honored trophy here. When he was organizing the Irish Brigade it was his dream that the command of it should be assumed by another great Irishman, General James Shields, then fresh from his triumphs in the Mexican War. But Shields, generous as he was great, urged the appointment of Meagher himself, and his influence won the day in Washington. For years the sword of General Shields has had its place of honor beside the Green Flag of the Irish Brigade among the historic treasures of our museum; henceforth the sword of Meagher shall rest beside it. They shall be honored as twin tokens of a mighty peril through which our country passed by the Providence of God and the virtue and valor of her sons...

Following Father Cavanaugh's speech of acceptance, Reverend Father O'Donnell read an ode written expressly for the occasion. He chose as his theme, the reunion of the battle-scarred green flag of the Irish Brigade, already in possession of the school, and the sword which had flashed forth upon so many fields, over which the flag of the Brigade had floated. Father O'Donnell conceived all the Irish heroes from all over the earth as present to attend the feast. The "wedding of the sun-gold sword and the sea-green flag" was beautiful in thought and execution, and Father O'Donnell was accorded an ovation when he rose to deliver it.

The chairman then introduced Hon. W. Bourke Cockran...

The following are some of the letters received from those unable to attend the function:

Bishop's House, 800 Cathedral Place, Richmond, Va., February 16, 1914.
My dear Father Cavanaugh:—

I thank you for your invitation to the presentation ceremony of General Meagher's sword and sincerely regret I cannot accept it.

I never pass by Riot field of Fredericksburg without thinking of him, and without going over again in spirit the awful charge from the large open field to the base of Marye's deadly heights. I heard one gentleman say who saw it that he could walk from the foot of the hill into the town of Fredericksburg upon the bodies of dead soldiers, and another who was there told me he counted two hundred and sixty-seven dead soldiers within an area of thirty yards square. And now the grass is growing rich on the plain and the cattle are browsing it.

The wounded were cared for in our little church, and the floor and the walls, the priest told me, were red with blood. The bones of the fallen are with us in the cemetery near the town.

I wish I could be with you. Believe me,
Very sincerely yours,
D. F. O'Connell,
Bishop of Richmond.

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - The Sword of Meagher - Part I

2011-01-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

My previous post (here) was about a group of friends from Ohio who recently had the pleasure of visiting the Archives of the University of Notre Dame and saw some precious Civil War artifacts in their collection. That post featured the regimental colors of the 63rd New York Volunteer Infantry of the famous "Irish Brigade."

My friends also got to see another tremendous artifact: the Civil War sword of the Irish Brigade's intrepid leader, Thomas F. Meagher. Meagher hardly needs an introduction to Civil War enthusiasts, but if you do need one, there is a biography at the terrific "The Wild Geese Today" website (here). Damian Shiels has a great post on Meagher artifacts and monuments in Waterford, Ireland (here) on his equally terrific "Irish in the American Civil War" blog.

Many thanks again to friend Gordy Morgan for sharing these great photos!

My next post will describe the 1914 ceremony in which the sword was presented to the university and why Notre Dame is a suitable resting place for the sword.

Enjoy!

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - A Famous Flag - Part II

2011-01-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

So, you're in town to watch the Notre Dame Fighting Irish play against Marquette...what else is there to do? Why, accept an invitation to visit the Archives of the University of Notre Dame and see some AMAZING Civil War artifacts! (And by the way, watch the Irish beat those Golden Eagles!).

That's exactly what some friends of mine from Ohio did and they were so kind to share some photos with me!

"Back Story":

I've had the great pleasure and privilege to be invited to speak to the Mahoning Valley (OH) Civil War Round Table (Youngstown, OH) twice (in 2003 and in 2009). They are a GREAT bunch of folks and I have had the great fortune of becoming friends and keeping in contact with some of them.

The "real story":

Two of them - Gordy Morgan and (bona fide "Golden Domer") Rock Basciano - and their friends and families attended the game and took the time to visit the archives where they were treated to a close look at some great artifacts.

Their host and guide was archivist Mr. Peter Lysy, without whose kind, expert, and enthusiastic assistance I could not have researched and written my book about Notre Dame and the Civil War. Readers of this blog will recall that Mr. Lysy has also written an excellent book about the history and conservation of the colors of the 63rd New York Volunteer Infantry regiment of the famous Irish Brigade (see my previous post about his book here), which is in the collection of the University.

But what's even better than reading about a famous flag? Seeing it in person! Which they did! And Gordy was kind enough to share some photos (see below).

Stay tuned for more photos from their visit this week...here's a hint: Many people have heard of "Meagher of the Sword"...well, you'll get to see "The Sword of Meagher"!

Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, Gordy!

"The American Catholic" Reviews "Notre Dame in the Civil War"!

2011-01-24T13:26:00.001-08:00

I want to thank Mr. Donald R. McClarey for posting a very kind review of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) on his popular "The American Catholic" and "Almost Chosen People" blogs this week.

One thing I was aiming for in this book was to craft a story (backed by good scholarship) that would appeal to multiple audiences: Civil War enthusiasts, Notre Dame almuni ("bona fide" and "subway), folks interested in the history of Catholics in America, and more. As it turns out, Don can count himself among several of those intended audiences, and I am so pleased, honored, and humbled that he found merit in the book!

Thanks, Donald!

And if you have a history blog yourself, check out "Almost Chosen People" and consider adding it to your blog roll (I did at my Civil War Medicine blog!)...it's TERRIFIC!

You can read the review here. Excerpts are below.

"I have read hundreds of books on the [Civil] War. Truth to tell, more than a few of the books I have read on the Civil War have left me with a ho hum feeling, not telling me much that I haven’t read many, many times before. I am therefore always pleasantly surprised when a tome on the Late Unpleasantness can give me lots of new information, and such is the case with Notre Dame and the Civil War, by James M. Schmidt...he has brought forth facts and new pieces of information...that I have not read elsewhere.

Schmidt skillfully relates the fever to enlist in the Union army that swept through the students of Notre Dame after Fort Sumter. Along with their students, Notre Dame priests also served as chaplain. Most famous among them was of course Father William Corby, who marched and fought with the Irish Brigade...The book relates the adventures of Father Corby, but also relates the stories of other Notre Dame priests who served as chaplains, including Father Paul E. Gillen, Father James Dillon, Father Joseph C. Carrier and Father Peter P. Cooney...

The Sisters of the Holy Cross...also got behind the war effort. Sixty of the Sisters would serve as nurses during the war. The role of Catholic Sisters as nurses in the Civil War is one of the great largely unsung stories of the War...Mr. Schmidt gives these heroic women their due.

Students and alums of Notre Dame are followed through the war: young Colonel William Lynch who heroically led the 58th Illinois...poet Timothy E. Howard, a private in the 12th Michigan...Sergeant Frank Baldwin who died for the Union at Stone’s River...Lieutenant Orville Chamberlain of the 74th Indiana who earned a Medal of Honor at Chickamauga for his heroism.

While the focus is on the battlefield, the book also keeps an eye on the functioning of Notre Dame during the war. Here the central figure is Father Edward Sorin, founder of Notre Dame and President of Notre Dame. Father Sorin comes across in the book as possessing both the innocence of a dove and the wiliness of a serpent and was a formidable priest, just what Notre Dame needed during that time of trial.

This book is a small gem, only 144 pages in length. Anyone interested in the Civil War and/or Notre Dame, or who simply would like to read a very well written history on a fascinating subject, should pick this up.

"The Best-natured Boys in the Play-yard" - The Pinkertons

2011-01-23T10:09:00.001-08:00

While most of the attention on this blog and in my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) is given to the priests, sisters, and students who served as chaplains, nurses, or soldiers during the war, I also discuss other wartime students who may not have shouldered a rifle but still have an interesting "war story."

Among those students are William A. and Robert A. Pinkerton.

Though they didn’t join the army, the Pinkerton brothers shared an exciting war with their father, famed private investigator Allan Pinkerton.
Pinkerton was a native of Scotland but had immigrated to the United States in 1842 in his early twenties. A cooper by trade, Pinkerton set up shop in the Chicago suburbs but soon became engaged and admired for his police work. He was attached to the Windy City’s police force for a short time before founding Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency in 1850 and earning nationwide recognition for foiling and solving railroad and express robberies.

His sons William and Robert were both enrolled during the 1860–61 school year at Notre Dame, where Robert was especially well regarded by his fellow students and the faculty; one of the Holy Cross brothers considered him “the best-natured boy in the [play]yard.” Many years later, William wrote to Notre Dame and recalled that he and Robert both had “the kindest remembrances for the dear old place and everyone connected with it.” Despite their ages—Robert was only thirteen and William fifteen—the boys were as eager as any of their classmates to enlist. William was allowed to leave his studies and join his father—now chief of the Union army’s secret service operation—in the field, while Robert continued his studies at Notre Dame for two more years before joining his father and brother.

William delivered dispatches, escorted agents behind enemy lines, got a bird’s-eye view of the Confederate lines in one of Thaddeus Lowe’s observation balloons and was wounded in the knee by an exploding artillery shell during the Battle of Antietam. In the latter years of the war, Pinkerton and his sons were assigned to the Mississippi Valley, where they investigated contracting and war claims fraud on behalf of the government. Some of William’s thrilling undercover operations are related in his father’s memoir, The Spy of the Rebellion. After the war, the boys became engaged with their father’s detective agency and assumed control when the elder Pinkerton died in 1884.

In Which Jim Gets a Letter from Fr. Pete in Papua New Guinea!

2011-01-19T05:45:00.001-08:00

Readers of this blog and of my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) will recall that I happily dedicated the book to my second cousin, Fr. Pete Meis, OFM, Cap., a missionary in Papua New Guinea for the past forty years. You can read about Fr. Pete and the Dedication in a previous post (here).

As soon as I got my first shipment of books I sent a signed copy by airmail to him in New Guinea. I was so happy this week to get a letter from him, parts of which I share below.

The letter demonstrates his sincere kindness, humility, and spirituality (not surprising) but also an eye for an amazing thread of history (read below to find out!):

Dear Jim...

Greetings and blessings on these days of the new year...

You posted your packet on November 26 and it arrived a few days after Christmas. Thank you for your wonderful gift. You really blew me away! Your note advised me to open and read the first few pages of the book - well, it made me feel so humble to have you dedicate this wonderful book to me. I certainly have done nothing as heroic as the persons of whom you write in this account of the Holy Cross priests, brothers and sisters during the Civil War...

I am half way reading through your book and find that your writing style brings these men and women almost to life. I could be sitting here listening to them tell their stories...

Of course when I read the name of Fr. Edward Sorin my thoughts went to Bishop Andre Sorin...these two men might be from the same area or "line" of ancestors in France. Bishop Sorin might be fifty years younger than Fr. Edward...

Another very interesting historical bit of information that I really enjoyed is about St. Martin. Your explanation of how the word "chaplain" came to be used was something I did not know. But from a Capuchin Franciscan point of view we know that Francis of Assisi had as one of his hero saints this very same St. martin. Francis wanted to be chivalrous in everything he did, and as a young man he saw Martin's life and actions as a military person of honor and generosity so inspiring. Francis was a soldier for a time, but not very good at that. He was better in imitating Martin by his own embracing the leper on the road and caring for lepers in their abandoned condition.

Thank you for the inspiring stories of Fr. William Corby and Mother Angela...

With love,

Fr. Pete

Wow - what a great letter, huh?!

First...Yikes! It took a month for the book to get there!

In my mind, Fr. Pete demonstrates every bit of missionary zeal and heroism as the Holy Cross priests and brothers demonstrated on the battlefield and in the hospitals.

His mention of Bishop Andre Sorin is so interesting! Andre Sorin was born in 1903 in France, ordained in 1929, appointed Bishop in Papua New Guinea in 1946 and died there in 1959.

Wouldn't it be amazing if he was indeed related somehow to Notre Dame founder Fr. Edward Sorin? I'll have to do some digging!

In any event, the Dedication of the book to Fr. Pete is sincere and well-deserved and this is a letter I shall treasure always!

The Penn Quakers Commemorate their Civil War Heitage!

2011-01-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), I always LOVE to see other academic institutions celebrating their Civil War heritage also!

(I have posted earlier on Hobart College's (Geneva, NY) online Civil War material here.)

Therefore, I was pleased to see a brief note in the most recent issue of The Civil War News stating that the University of Pennsylvania - one of the oldest universities in the United States - has launched a website to commemorate its role in the Civil War.

The site includes brief introduction and links to university archive records and some photographic material regarding the College Administration, Student Life, Medical School Administration, Philadelphia Society, Military Service, Scientific Topics, Remembrances, Miscellaneous, and the Class of 1865.

It looks like a GREAT resource for people researching the role of higher education in the Civil War years, the University of Pennsylvania specifically, and/or ancestors who may have attended the university and fought in the Civil War.

Well done, Penn!

If you know of other colleges or universities who are commemorating their Civil War heritage drop me a line!

"Confederate Book Review" Interviews the Author! (Me!)

2011-01-14T08:41:00.000-08:00

I want to thank Robert Redd for posting a very kind review of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) on his popular "Confederate Book Review" blog this week.

You can read the review here. Excerpts are below.

Robert followed up the review with an interview with questions that were very insightful and fun to answer! You can read the interview here.

Thanks, Robert!

By the way, while you are at "Confederate Book Review," also take time to read his other great book reviews...he'll also be doing more author interviews and I really look forward to that!

Robert is also interested in the Civil War in Florida, genealogy, and visiting historic cemeteries!

Review excerpts:

"Author Jim Schmidt has written an enjoyable, fascinating, and needed book dealing with Notre Dame and the contribution it's students and administrators made during the Civil War. The culmination of more than a decades research Schmidt has proven that the young college did more than just contribute Father Corby to the war effort...

This is an interesting book and a must read for anybody interested in the history of the University of Notre Dame and also anybody with an interest in the Civil War. The chapters are easy to read and the book can be read as a whole or the chapters as stand alones. The book is well illustrated with b/w photos both vintage and modern. End notes wrap up the work nicely."

"Irish in the American Civil War" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

2011-01-12T16:49:00.001-08:00

Damian Shiels was kind enough to review my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press) at his "Irish in the American Civil War" blog.

The full review is here and excerpts are below.

Please make sure to check out Damian's terrific blog! He is a trained and professional archaeologist who specializes in battlefield archaeology. Even cooler is that he writes about the Irish in the American Civil War from...IRELAND!

All of his posts are terrific but my favorites are when he posts photos of monuments and cemeteries in Ireland. See some examples here, here, and here!

Thanks, Damian!

Excerpts:

"James M. Schmidt has produced a book which charts Notre Dame’s involvement in the American Civil War, following the fortunes of the students, faculty and the school itself both during and after the conflict.

This book is far more than just a run through of those individuals from Notre Dame who served in the Union ranks. Many other aspects of the University’s war and post-war experience are provided...

This book is written in a logical and easily digestible style, and is well illustrated throughout. The author has carried out extensive research on all aspects of the University’s involvement and experience of the conflict...It successfully provides a sense of the effects of the war on the community of students, staff, past-pupils and families associated with the school ...Notre Dame and the Civil War is a book that should attract a wide readership, not least amongst those interested in the Irish experience of the American Civil War."

Notre Dame Civil War Chaplain Profile #3 - Fr. Joseph C. Carrier

2011-01-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

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.

See these posts for previous profiles:

#1 = Fr. Paul E. Gillen, CSC

#2 = Fr. Peter P. Cooney, CSC

Below is an excerpt from my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) describing some of the life and ministry of Fr. Joseph C. Carrier, CSC, as a chaplain in the Union army.

Genius, Interrupted

Father Joseph C. Carrier was born in France in 1833, the youngest of ten children in a respected and wealthy family. He received his earlyeducation under the care of a private tutor before attending the College of Belley, where he excelled in all of his studies but especially in science and mathematics. Indeed, while only in his late teens, he was appointed professor of natural philosophy (physics) at a small college in Geneva,Switzerland. In 1855, he came to America and decided to enter the priesthood. His patron—the bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota—had high hopes for establishing a religious order and college in his part of the country and thought that the young scholar would be an ideal choice to lead both.

Unfortunately, the bishop died before he or his protégé could act on the plan. Instead, Carrier entered the Holy Cross community at Notre Dame, where he was ordained a priest in early 1861. In May 1863, Father Carrier was serving as a professor of Latin and Greek at the university, as well as a pastor of the church in nearby South Bend, when Father Sorin told him to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice to join General Ulysses S. Grant’s army as a chaplain. Within days, Father Carrier bid farewell to his students and parishioners and set out for Mississippi, where he was commissioned as chaplain of the 6th Missouri Infantry Regiment. In fact,his ministry extended to all of Grant’s army.

By all accounts, Father Carrier was as comfortable among the leading generals of the army as he was among the common soldier. When he met Grant for the first time, the general asked if he was a professor. “Yes,” Father Carrier replied, “I have been years in the college of Notre Dameand am still attached to it.” The general then declared, “You will find that the life of a soldier is quite different from that of a professor and that our tents are not so comfortable as the halls of a college.” The good priest replied, “I understood that before I left Notre Dame, I did not expect to find in the soldiers’ camp all the comforts, the conveniences,and ease of home.” Grant expressed his happiness that Father Carrier had joined his army, and the two men then discussed the progress of the siege at Vicksburg.

While all of Notre Dame’s priests may have steeled themselves for the vagaries of camp life, they must have been less prepared for the constant threat and presence of death. The bookish Father Carrier seemed to be the most sensitive to this grim reality. In advance of the great “Vicksburg mine” explosion on June 25, 1863, Father Carrier witnessed a Union soldier being killed by a Confederate sniper. Father Carrier was “much moved by the terrible sudden…death of the soldier” and “sat at the foot of the tree.” Rather than watch the historic detonation, as his fellow officers were doing, Father Carrier “fell into a deep and irrepressible reverie,” left the scene, went back to camp “and threw himself on hiscot.” To his credit, Father Carrier returned to the lines and ministered to some of the soldiers wounded in the post-explosion charge.

Before the end of the year, Father Carrier was called back to Notre Dame, where he began to place the school’s scientific program on a firm foundation. In 1866, he spent several months in Paris collecting laboratory apparatus and specimens for the university’s museum of natural history.His greatest coup was securing a six-inch telescope as a gift from Emperor Napoleon III. Father Carrier was the longtime curator of the museum and professor of chemistry and physics. He was eventually assigned as a professor at St. Laurent College, near Montreal, and expertly tended themuseum there until his death in 1904.

Learn more about the good Fr. Carrier - including his letter to President Abraham Lincoln and his ministry to the Sherman family in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory!

Notre Dame at the Battle of Stone's River - Part II - "A Martial Fire"

2010-12-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's post, I provided an excerpt from my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) describing the valor of Notre Dame's Fr. Peter Cooney at the Battle of Stone's River, Tennessee.

In today's excerpt, you will learn about Notre Dame student-soldier Frank Baldwin, who was killed-in-action in the battle. May he rest in peace.

You can learn more about a monument in Elkhart, IN, dedicated to Baldwin - and all of Elkhart's Civil War soldiers and sailors - in a previous post (here).

Excerpt:

His Last Full Measure

While the 35th Indiana and Father Cooney fought on the Union left at Stones River, other Notre Dame student-soldiers were also on the battlefield, including Frank Baldwin, who was engaged nearby with the 44th Indiana Infantry. Baldwin, a native of Elkhart, Indiana, attended Notre Dame from 1860 to 1861. Perhaps inspired by classmate William F. Lynch, the seventeen-year-old Baldwin left home in the summer of 1861 with friend George M. Keeley and traveled to Illinois to join Colonel Mulligan’s 23rd Illinois Infantry. While Lynch missed the early battles of the 23rd in Missouri, Baldwin did not and was taken prisoner when Mulligan surrendered his command at Lexington; Baldwin was paroled soon after.

Baldwin returned home to Elkhart, yet against his parents’ wishes, “the martial fire still burned in him at the exclusion of everything else.” One day in early 1862, Baldwin and his friends Norman H. Strong and Cullen W. Green heard that the 48th Indiana Infantry regiment was leaving nearby Goshen for the front. The boys—all still under eighteen—went to the schoolhouse, bid farewell to their classmates, hid behind an old blacksmith shop and then jumped on the train carrying the regiment.

The train carried the soldiers, Baldwin and his two companion stowaways to Paducah, Kentucky, where the 48th Indiana met a fleet of transports carrying the Union army to Fort Donelson. Baldwin, Strong and Green went down to the river and boarded a boat, where they happily found themselves among Elkhart men of the 44th Indiana Infantry. The boys indicated their desire to enlist but a company commander, Captain Albert Heath, refused them on account of their age. He told the boys that they could see the fight at Donelson, after which he would send them back home. The boys protested and declared that “they had come to fight and were going to fight anyway.” Heath consulted with his commander, Colonel Hugh B. Read, who agreed to let them join. Baldwin was with the 44th Indiana through all its engagements of 1862, including at Shiloh, where he was wounded.

On December 31, 1862, Baldwin—since promoted to third sergeant—and the 44th Indiana were engaged in the first day of the Battle of Stones River. The regiment marched in line of battle through an open field, where it discovered the enemy making a flank movement on its right, in a wood bordering the field. The men made a stand at the edge of the wood in their front but were soon ordered to advance, with the line of the enemy soon coming into sight. They continued their advance, coming within a hundred yards of the enemy’s line. The 44th Indiana opened fire; the Confederate line replied and advanced as well, and its flanking force opened a galling crossfire on the Hoosiers. The 44th Indiana held the position as long as it could and then fell back to its battery and re-formed its lines.

When the order was given to fall back, Baldwin and Green—himself recently promoted to lieutenant—were standing together behind a tree. They fell back into the open space and started with the rest of the regiment across the field, exposed to the crossfire. As they neared a fence, the two friends were running side by side. Green called out, “Throw your gun over the fence,” pitching his own over and following it to the opposite side. Green pressed on but never saw Frank Baldwin alive again.

A few days later, Green asked for permission to take a detail of six men to find his constant companion. Green found Baldwin just on the other side of the fence from where he had cried out to his friend. Baldwin had been struck by a musket ball—perhaps while climbing over the fence—which had entered under his right shoulder blade, passed through his heart and exited out the left side. The detail placed Baldwin’s body in a crude coffin and buried it in the hospital yard. When, two months later, a family friend came to retrieve Baldwin’s remains, Lieutenant Green accompanied him to the cemetery with a detail of soldiers, who exhumed the body and placed it in a metallic coffin. Baldwin was then laid to rest in the family’s mausoleum in Grace Lawn Cemetery in Elkhart.

Notre Dame at the Battle of Stone's River - Part I - "Indifferent to Danger"

2010-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

The Battle of Stones River (in the South, the "Battle of Murfreesboro"), was fought from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863, in middle Tennessee.

The University of Notre Dame was represented in a chaplain and student-soldiers at the battle. Below is an excerpt from my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), describing the valor of Fr. Peter P. Cooney in the battle. You can learn more about Fr. Cooney in a previous blog post (here).

Look for another excerpt this week about a Notre Dame student-soldier killed in the battle.

Excerpt:

Fighting began in earnest for the 35th Indiana on the very last day of 1862. “I am safe after being through the most terrible battle of the war,” Father Cooney began a letter to his brother, adding, “I have time now to write you but a few words…My time now is very precious attending to the dying and wounded.” The battle was a terrible engagement, indeed; of all the major battles of the war, Stones River was distinguished by having the highest percentage of casualties among the forces engaged on both sides.

The 35th Indiana was involved all three days of the battle, including skirmishing on the first two days and severe fighting on the third, within just yards of the determined enemy. “We lost of our regiment, killed on the field twenty-eight and wounded sixty-seven many of whom are since dead,”“And nothing but God’s protection could have saved me,” he added, “as I was in the midst of it the whole time.” Father Cooney continued. This was no idle boast. Colonel B.F. Mullen, commanding the 35th Indiana, mentioned the brave priest in his official report:

To Father Cooney, our chaplain, too much praise cannot be given. Indifferent as to himself, he was deeply solicitous for the temporal and spiritual welfare of us all. On the field he was cool and indifferent to danger, and in the name of the regiment, I thank him for his kindness and laborious attention to the dead and dying.

It was only the first of several official mentions of bravery that Father Cooney would earn over the course of the war.

Christmas Eve 1864 for a Notre Dame Student-Soldier

2010-12-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas Day 1864, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman sent a famous telegram to President Abraham Lincoln:

"I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah with 150 heavy guns & plenty of ammunition & also about 25.000 bales of cotton."

In Sherman's army, camped outside the captured city with the 74th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was Notre Dame student-soldier Orville T. Chamberlain. You can learn more about Chamberlain in a previous blog post (here).

In another previous post (here), I provided a detailed Bibliography of the sources used to write my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

Among those sources was a group of wartime letters written by Orville T. Chamberlain to family and friends. The letters are part of the "Joseph W. and Orville T. Chamberlain Papers, 1829–1932," held by the Indiana Historical Society.

A good number of these letters, from Orville's days as a student at Notre Dame to his final letter home describing news of the surrender of the Confederate forces and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, are quoted in the book.

In the spirit of Christmas, here is an excerpt from a letter in the collection, written by Chamberlain on Christmas Eve 1864, from outside Savannah. Note that he mentions a "Hardin Shutt"...Schutt was also a Notre Dame student-soldier! You can learn more about the "Pulaski Monument" here.

Enjoy...and Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

Christmas Eve, 1864

Dear Father:

I am well, but I am very anxious to hear that all the members of our family are ditto.

We are comfortably encamped 1 1/4 miles from Savannah. I visited the city today. It is about as large as Indianapolis. The streets are very narrow. I saw Pulaski's Monument, the old U. S. Battery, Public Squares, Parks, Churches, and etc.

Tell Mr. Schutt as soon as possible that Hardin (who by the way has been promoted to the Adjutancy of the Reg't) has the measles very badly. He has a private room at the residence of J.C. Sturtevant, and is well cared for. Although he has the measles hard, I do not think he is in a dangerous condition.

I had returned to my Comapny, but Adjutant Schutt's illness again left the Regiment without an Adjutant and Col. Morgan has again ordered me on duty as Acting Adj. We are preparing for a grand review by Maj. Gen. Sherman - "Crazy Bill," and I will have to work very hard...

OTC

"Notre Dame in the Civil War" Featured in South Bend Tribune!

2010-12-19T08:47:00.001-08:00

Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) was featured in today's (December 19, 2010) issue of the South Bend (IN) Tribune! Many thanks to Mr. Howard Dukes, a staff writer at the Tribune, for asking some great questions in our telephone interview last week!

You can read the entire article online here!

Thanks, Mr. Dukes!

Sources?! We Don't Need No Stinking Sources! (Wait, Yes We Do!)

2010-12-09T09:53:00.001-08:00

Civil War enthusiasts and readers can be a tough crowd when it comes to evaluating sources used for books and articles, and rightly so.

They (justly) demand an emphasis on original subject matter or interpretations, the (judicious) use of primary and archival sources, and "evidence" in reliable footnotes and endnotes.

Publisher-extraordinaire (and a happy mentor to many of us, including me!) Ted Savas at Savas-Beatie had an excellent post ("Going Archival") and poll on this matter a few months back at his excellent "A Publisher's Perspective" blog (make sure you check out the "Comments" also).

Many experienced Civil War readers begin a book - in fact, make a decision whether to even read or buy a book - based on a glance at the Bibliography and/or footnotes/endnotes.

Every publisher has its own philosophy when it comes to Bibliographies and/or Notes (and indexes, as well).

My new book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press) does indeed have detailed endnotes. However, due to style and (especially) space considerations, it does not have an index or Bibliography.

But Fear Not! I happily provide a comprehensive Bibliography below!

In future posts I will provide hyperlinks (where available) to some of the sources and detail how important each of the different kids of sources was.

I do hope readers will be encouraged by the use of a broad array of sources, especially primary and archival material (and even more especially from the University of Notre Dame Archives ), and perhaps find some new leads for their own research! Enjoy!

Archives

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana

Indiana Historical Society (IHS) - Indianapolis, Indiana

Joseph W. andOrville T. Chamberlain Papers

Indiana Province Archives Center (IPAC), Congregation of the Holy Cross - Notre Dame, Indiana

Library of Congress - Washington, DC

Abraham Lincoln Papers

Louisiana Secretary of State - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Pension Records

National Archives and Records Administration - Washington, D.C.

War Department - Compiled Service Records

University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA) - Notre Dame, Indiana

Notre Dame Scholastic

CCON (David Power Conyngham Papers)

CCOO (Peter Paul Cooney Papers)

CEWI (Thomas Ewing Manuscripts)

CGAR (Grand Army of the Republic Notre Dame Post 569 Records)

CNDS (Notre Dame Student Collection)

CSHR (William T. Sherman Family Papers)

PDNP (Notre Dame Printed and Reference Material Dropfiles)

ULDG (Financial Ledgers)

UPEL (Notre Dame Presidents' Letters)

Newspapers

Adams County (PA) News
Elgin (IL) Weekly Gazette
Elkhart (IN) Review
Elkhart (IN) Truth
Gettysburg (PA) Compiler
St. Joseph County (IN) Forum
St. Joseph (IN) Valley Register

Books

Barber, E. M., The Wright-Chamberlin Genealogy: From Emigrant Ancestors to Present Generations (Binghamton, NY: Vail-Ballou Company, 1914).

A Brief History of the University of Notre Dame du Lac, Indiana from 1842 to 1892 (Chicago, IL: Werner Co., 1895).

Brinton, J. H., Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton (New York: Neale Publishing Co., 1914).

Corby, W. , Memoirs of Chaplain Life: Three Years with the Irish Brigade in the Army of the Potomac, ed. Lawrence F. Kohl (New York: FordhamUniversity Press, 1992).

Costin, M. G., Priceless Spirit: A History of the Sisters of the HolyCross, 1841–1893 (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994).

Deahl, A., ed., A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Elkhart County, Indiana (Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Company, 1906).

Donnelly, E. C., Crowned With Stars (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University, 1881).

Emerson, S.E. (ed.), Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1897).

Father Corby at Gettysburg (Philadelphia, PA: McManus, c. 1909).

History of St. Joseph County, Indiana (Chicago, IL: Chas. C. Chapman,1880).

Hope. A. J.. Notre Dame: One Hundred Years (Notre Dame, IN:University Press, 1948).

Howard, T. E., A History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, vol. 2 (Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1907).

Howard, T. E., Musings and Memories (Chicago, IL: Lakeside Press, 1905).

Jacob, K. A., Testament to Union: Civil War Monumentsin Washington D.C. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).

Livermore, M., My Story of the War: A Woman’s Narrative of Four Years Personal Experience (Hartford, CT: A.D. Worthington, 1890).

Maher, M.D., To Bind Up the Wounds: Catholic Sister Nurses in the U.S. Civil War (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999).

Marszalek, J. F., Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order (New York: Free Press, 1993).

McAllister, A. S., Ellen Ewing: Wife of General Sherman (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1936).

McAllister, A. S., Flame in the Wilderness: Life and Letters of Mother Angela Gillespie, C.S.C., 1824–1887 (Paterson, NJ: St. Anthony GuildPress, 1944),

Miller, R.J., Both Prayed to the Same God: Religion and Faith in the American Civil War (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007).

Miscamble, W. D., ed., Go Forth and Do Good: Memorable Notre Dame Commencement Addresses (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003).

Mulholland, St. C. A., The Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry (Philadelphia, PA: F.M. McManus, Jr,. & Co., 1899).

Nichols, T. L., Forty Years of American Life (London: Longman,Green, & Co., 1874).

O’Connell, M. R., Edward Sorin (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre DamePress, 2001).

On the King’s Highway: A History of the Sisters of the Holy Cross—NotreDame, Indiana (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1931).

Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, vol. 4 (Springfield, IL:Phillips Bros., 1901).

Rudy, W., The Campus and a Nation in Crisis: From the American Revolution to Vietnam (Madison, NJ: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996).

Sherman, W. T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, vol. 1 (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1886).

Sherman’s Civil War: Selected Correspondence of William T. Sherman, 1860–1865, Brooks D. Simpson and Jean V. Berlin, eds. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999).

Silver Jubilee of the University of Notre Dame (Chicago, IL: E.B. Meyers, 1869).

Smith, W. H., Schuyler Colfax: The Changing Fortunes of a Political Idol (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1952).

Sorin, E.. The Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac, trans. WilliamToohey, ed. James T. Connelly (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992).

Stevenson, D., Indiana’s Roll of Honor, vol. 1 (Indianapolis, IN: A.D.Streight, 1864).

A Story of Fifty Years: From the Annals of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, 1855–1905 (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria, 1905).

Thorndike, R. S., ed., The Sherman Papers: CorrespondenceBetween General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1894).

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of theUnion and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901).

Articles

“Females Not Suitable for Nurses,” American Medical Times, July 18,1861.

Jensen, O., “War Correspondent: 1864,” American Heritage 31, No. 5 (August–September 1980).

Marszalek, J. F., “Call to Arms,” Notre Dame Magazine, 21, no. 3 (Fall 1992).

McAvoy, T., “The War Letters of Father Peter Paul Cooney ofthe Congregation of the Holy Cross,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, vol. 44 (1933).

“The Naval Hospital Boat ‘Red Rover,’” Harper’s Weekly, May 9, 1863.

Wall, B.M., “Grace Under Pressure: The Nursing Sisters of the Holy Cross, 1861–1865,” Nursing History Review 1 (1993).

Manuscripts

Loomis, E.K., “History of the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Red Rover,”Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Division of Naval History, Ships’ History Section, Report No. OP 09B9, 1961.

Pratt, D.O., “Notre Dame and the Civil War Draft,” Unpublished Manuscript.

And This Book Goes Out To.... (DEDICATION)

2010-12-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

My new book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), is dedicated to a wonderful man who happens to live almost 8,000 miles away:

To Father Peter Meis, O.F.M., Cap., in admiration of his more than forty years of devoted and loving missionary work to the indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea.

Fr. Pete is my (second) cousin (my mother's first cousin) and it is a privilege to call him family.

Although it has been some time since I last saw him, he has been an important part of our lives for as long as I can remember.

When he returned to Kansas during (infrequent) breaks from his missionary service during my youth, he would say Mass in our home and share photos and slides of his work among the natives of Papua New Guinea.

Letters from Fr. Pete (like the recent one below) were especially treasured by me as they added to my stamp collection.

The Dedication to Fr. Pete is both sincere and fitting: His work among the native people of Papua New Guinea is a modern example of the same missionary zeal that brought the founders of Notre Dame from France to our shores and its Holy Cross priests to the camps and battlefields of the Civil War.

Fr. Pete's family visited New Guinea earlier this year as his parish there celebrated its 50th anniversary. His sister was kind enough to share some photos, one of which appears in the book with the Dedication.

Enjoy, and please keep Fr. Pete and his beautiful people in your thoughts and prayers.

If you just happen to be in the Pacific, though, don't spoil the surprise! He doesn't know about the Dedication yet (although his family does!).

I sent him a copy of the book late last week...I'll tell you what he says!

Giving THANKS! ("No Nonfiction Writer is an Island")"

2010-12-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day was already a week ago; I don;t want to let another day pass without thanking all the people who helped with my new book, Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

I think there is a romantic notion that writing is a solitary venture, but from my own experience it requires a lot of assistance, support, and cooperation.

This book was the product of more than a decade’s interest and research and the kind, enthusiastic and expert cooperation and support of many people.

To that end, I am happily in debt to:

First and foremost, the wonderful staff of the University of Notre Dame Archives, especially Kevin Cawley (Archivist and Curator of Manuscripts), Peter Lysy (Archivist for University Records), Sharon Sumpter (Assistant Archivist, Reference) and Elizabeth Hogan (Archivist Photographs), who have answered questions and supplied me with a host of material for many years now.

Sister Bernice Hollenhorst (Archives and Records of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross) and Ms. Deb Buzzard and Father James Connelly (Archives of the Indiana Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross) also provided advice, documents and photographs from their wonderful collections.

The story of the University of Notre Dame is intimately connected to the story of the state of Indiana. As such, the assistance of the following people was essential and much appreciated:

Suzanne Hahn (Director of Reference Services) of the Indiana Historical Society assisted me with photographs and the wartime letters of Notre Dame student-soldier Orville T. Chamberlain in the Joseph W. and Orville T. Chamberlain papers.

Diana Zornow of the Elkhart County (Indiana) Historical Museum provided copies of local period newspaper articles and books relating to Notre Dame student-soldier Frank Baldwin.

Susan Lowery of the Mishawaka (Indiana) Heritage Center provided copies of essential wartime articles from South Bend (IN) newspapers.

The reference staff—especially Patricia Bicknell—at my hometown Montgomery County (Texas) Memorial Library were friendly and helpful as always.

Tim Deichl was a kind and early supporter of this project and provided rare documents and photographs related to his family history—especially important were items concerning Notre Dame student-soldier, and Union general, William F. Lynch.

Likewise, Linda Fluharty shared her remarkable genealogical research on student-soldier Michael Quinlan.

Jay Odom, proprietor of www.civilwardocs.com, expertly retrieved soldier service records from the National Archives.

Dave Powell, author, historian and battlefield tour guide, kindly shared correspondence from his collection regarding the Battle of Chickamauga.

Professional photographer Pat Brownewell, Notre Dame graduate and Navy veteran Corrine Rypka, author and historian Michael Aubrecht, historical marker expert Craig Swain and lifelong friend Curtis Fears all kindly provided much-needed (and excellent) modern photographs of monuments and memorials from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Washington, D.C., of Notre Dame’s service in the war.

In all of my writing endeavors, I have received the generous advice and support of professional and academic historians, and this project was no different. Dr. Dorothy Pratt of the University of South Carolina kindly provided her unpublished—and essential—manuscript regarding the effect of the draft on Notre Dame in the Civil War.

Dr. John F. Marszalek, Professor Emeritus, Mississippi State University—and executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association—read the manuscript and provided expert comments and sage advice that made the final work all the better.

Guy R. Hasegawa—dear friend, estimable author and historian in his own right and expert editor—applied his sharp eye and blue pencil to the manuscript but mostly offered me his encouragement.

Joseph Gartrell, my editor at The History Press, saw merit in this project and championed its publication, and for that—and his friendship—I am most grateful.

My wife Susan; our children Katherine, Robert and Michael; and my parents, brothers, sisters, in-laws, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family and friends provided loving support as always.

See?! I told you it took a lot of help! Thanks EVERYONE!

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - A Famous Flag

2010-11-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

The University of Notre Dame is home to a wonderful legacy of its own contributions during the American Civil War, which I have written about in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010).

The university is also home to a wonderful collection of Civil War artifacts and correspondence, including the Sherman Family Papers (about which I posted earlier here) and wartime manuscript collections in the Rare Books and Special Collections section of the library (including images and transcriptions here).

Also in the collection is one of the famous and beautiful Tiffany-crafted flags that belonged to one of the regiments of the famous Irish Brigade. The stories of the regiment, the brigade, the colors (and abiding myths), how the colors came to the university, and how - almost 150 years later - they were properly restored and conserved, are the subject of a terrific book: Blue for the Union & Green for Ireland: The Civil War Flags of the 63rd Regiment New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade by Peter J. Lysy (University of Notre Dame Archives) and available through the archives here.

Although seemingly short at 60 pages, the book is packed with information and more than 60 illustrations, most of them in color and some of them quite rare, indeed!

The book is divided into five main parts: The flags of the 63rd New York How the regiment's "second" (aka "Tiffany" colors) came to Notre Dame in the 1890s The conservation of the colors in 2000 Historical Documents (1861-65) Historical Documents (1892-1998)

The book first describes the organization of the New York regiments of the Irish Brigade and the importance - both practical and inspirational - of flags (colors) in the Civil War armies. The 63rd NY was bestowed with no less than four sets of national and regimental colors over the course of the war.

The author makes the important point that the Irish Brigade is a very popular subject for modern military painters and - given the beauty and iconic nature of the brigade's regimental colors - that they can hardly help themselves in including them in their paintings, even though they were not always (indeed, rarely) carried in battle.

The flag was given to the university in the 1890s and was proudly displayed in her "Irish Hall" along with other artifacts of the war and Irish heritage. The colors changed hands at the university, being held in turn in the school's art galleries and the ROTC "Military Museum" before being given to the university's archivists.

The book includes more than twenty color illustrations of flag detail before and during the restoration process, which took place in 2000. The book closes with a collection of wartime and modern documents that detail the original crafting and presentation of the colors to the regiment, soldiers' mentions of the colors during the war, their transmittal to the university in the 1890s, and their restoration.

This TERRIFIC, handsome, and affordable (only $16.95!) book will be of great interest to readers interested in the 63rd New York, the Irish Brigade, and in Civil War vexillology (the scholarly study of flags) and flag restoration!

1864 Election Night - Notre Dame Style!

2010-11-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight, November 2, 2010, is a mid-term election night, and (hopefully) readers of this blog will have voted today and many may be watching the returns tonight. You think today's politics are tough?! Wait until you read how the votes at Notre Dame almost ruined election night for the Speaker of the House in 1864!

Read part of the story below and read the entire tale in Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), available in just a few weeks!

In the midterm elections of 1862 – a tough proposition for the party in power – South Bend, Indiana's representative, Republican Schuyler Colfax, had faced stiff competition from Democrat “Dirty Dave” Turpie and won the election by a slim margin of less than 300 votes. In 1864, even as the powerful Speaker of the House, Colfax faced another difficult election at home. The voting public’s anxiety over wartime inflation and a burgeoning fifth column of Copperheads in Indiana compelled Colfax to write Lincoln, “the odds are heavy against us in Indiana.” Colfax would again face Turpie, who was still stinging from his close defeat in 1862 which the Democrats attributed to “fraud and trickery.” So motivated was Turpie to “lay Schuyler Colfax upon the shelf” that he turned down his party’s nomination as lieutenant governor.

On the eve of the election, the generally politically astute Notre Dame president, Fr. Sorin, wrote a friend that Colfax was devoted to him and that he (Sorin) sometimes availed myself of this good will. Fr. Sorin boasted of the power he had, writing that Colfax knew he had at his disposal from sixty to seventy-five votes at Notre Dame each election, either for him or against him. Colfax, who had always counted on those votes from Notre Dame, needed them in 1864. To that end, he visited Fr. Sorin to express his anxiety over the political landscape and reminded the good father of the draft exemptions and other political favors the Republican Party had secured for him.

Fr. Sorin understood Colfax’s not-so-subtle intimations and called a meeting of the priests and brothers that lasted for several hours and resulted in a resolution which was calculated to have the best result: that is, that no other ticket than the Republican or Union ticket shall be voted by the members of the Holy Cross congregation. Unfortunately, the person responsible for passing on this important information to the other members of the Notre Dame community failed to carry out this critical assignment, and the result was that - as Fr. Sorin reported to his superior – “three-fourths…voted against [Colfax]." (!)

Why did the priests and brothers vote against Colfax?
Did Colfax win?
How did Colfax retaliate against Notre Dame?
How did a thousand Haily Mary's (and a famous general's wife!) save the day?
Did Fr. Sorin (and Schuyler Colfax) learn a lesson?

Find out by reading Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), available November 24!

"Fair Catch Corby" - Part II - 1910 Dedication

2010-10-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my previous post, today - October 29, 2010 - marks the centennial of the original dedication ceremony of the Fr. Corby statue at Gettysburg. The previous post described the fundraising efforts for the statue. Today's post will describe the crafting of the statue and newspaper coverage of the 1910 dedication.

You will learn much more about Fr. Corby and the statue in my forthcoming book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, Dec 2010).

The statue committee commissioned Samuel Aloysius Murray to craft the statue. A native of Philadelphia, Murray began his artistic studies at the ageof seventeen under the tutelage of the renowned American painter and sculptor Thomas Eakins. Murray was an ideal choice for the Father Corby statue: he had strong ties to Philadelphia’s Irish Catholic community,and by the turn of the century he had become one of America’s mostpromising artisans. His works won recognition at expositions in America and in Europe and are prominent in Philadelphia and Washington,D.C. His most ambitious piece, the Goddess of Victory and Peace atop the Pennsylvania State Memorial, shares the Gettysburg battlefield with his statue of Father Corby.

In 1910, Murray proceeded quickly with the model and with the final casting. The unveiling was scheduled for later in the year, but unfortunately the statue’s greatest patron did not live to see the day: General St. Clair Mulholland died on February 17, 1910. He literally worked on the statue until the day he passed, so concerned was he that his cherished project would fail. Henry A. Daily, a member of the statue commitee, remembered:

“a few hours before [Mulholland] died, he sent for me and I then assured him that the monument need give him no concernas I felt that the erection of the monument…was as certain as if the statuewas at that time in place.”

Trains began arriving in Gettysburg on Friday, October 28, 1910. That evening a “camp fire” was held in a town hall, where children from the local Catholic school sang songs such as “Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground” and dignitaries such as University of Notre Dame president Father John Cavanaugh delivered speeches. By one o’clock onSaturday afternoon, as church bells rang, hundreds more visitors had arrived by train and had begun assembling on the battlefield (on Hancock Avenue) for the ceremony. Walter George Smith, a noted Philadelphia lawyer and master of ceremonies, declared:

We are assembled to commemorate an event unique in the history of the great Civil War…The pages of history glow with the records of deeds and heroism done on land and sea by officers, soldiers and sailors, who illustrated courage on both sides of the mighty conflict, and with fitting appreciation…the scenes they have immortalized have been marked by grateful people, but now for the first time a monument has been erected to perpetuate the memory of a deed done directly for the glory of God and the salvation of the human soul. Amid these triumphant monuments of soldiers we have placed the presentment of a priest…performing one of the most sacred functions of his office…We may hope that it will bring to the minds of every traveler upon this field for generations yet unborn…the name and deed of the heroic Chaplain.

After additional speeches and a benediction, a young girl pulled a flag covering the bronze statue of Father Corby, hat and gloves at his feet, left hand over his heart and his right arm raised in absolution. “There was no attempt at ostentation or display,” a local newspaper reported, “but as the folds of the Stars and Stripes dropped and revealed the figure ofthe revered father…the entire audience stood for a moment of silence in token of their regard, esteem and respect for the man whose memorywas so fittingly honored today.”

"Fair Catch Corby" - Part I - Raising the Dough

2010-10-25T16:35:00.001-07:00

Few of the seven Holy Cross priests that Notre Dame sent to serve as chaplains in the Civil War have received as much attention as Fr. William Corby. Indeed, few chaplains in all the war have received as much attention as Fr. Corby. He has been immortalized in poetry, paint, and even in modern film (Gettysburg), but the most enduring image is that of the statue of Fr. Corby on the battlefield of Gettysburg and the replica at the University of Notre Dame, which has earned the nickname, "Fair Catch Corby."

Readers of my forthcoming book, Notre Dame and the Civil War:Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) will learn much about Fr. Corby and about the statue, but I wanted to share some information now as this is a very special week:

Friday, October 29, 2010, marks the centennial of the original dedication ceremony of the Fr. Corby statue at Gettysburg (the replica at Notre Dame was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1911).

Of course, before the statue could be crafted and erected, money had to be raised. Below, you will find images of the c. 1909 fund-raising pamphlet - "Father Corby at Gettysburg" - an original of which I'm proud to have in my collection.

Enjoy!

Later this week, I'll share newspaper clippings from the original dedication ceremony!

Judging a Book By Its Cover

2010-10-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, but don't you think this is a pretty good start?

THANKS SO MUCH to the great folks at The History Press for the hard work they put into crafting this lovely cover! Please let me know what you think!

We're almost there - we are shooting for a first-week-of-December publication date!

Stay tuned to this blog for details!

Jim Channels Winona (Channeling Jo)

2010-09-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

At the risk of losing my "man card" I have to confess that one of my favorite films is "Little Women" (1994) and one of my favorite scenes is towards the end, when "Jo" (aka Winona Ryder...sigh) has finished her manuscript...ties it up in a bow...bites her nails...and prepares to send it off.

I can empathize with her...especially the nail-biting part: today I am sending my manuscript for Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory to the publisher (The History Press). It's done!

Stay tuned here on the "Notre Dame in the Civil War" blog for additional details and production schedule. I'll also be updating this blog more frequently with highlights from the book and extra material and research!

I expect to see a draft of the cover art in a week or so! Exciting!

The book is scheduled to be available late this year (hopefully in time for the holidays!) or early 2011. Thanks for all the support!

(Cross-posted from Civil War Medicine andWriting)

Notre Dame in the Civil War

"Michigan Historical Review" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

Meet Me in St. Louis! (at the St. Louis Civil War Round Table!)

Meeting Fr. Corby's Family - Stories and Letters and Relatives

Notre Dame Chaplain Profiles #5 and #6 - Frs. Bourget and Leveque

College Life in the 1860s - Part II

College Life in the 1860s - Part I

Radio Interview About "Notre Dame and the Civil War"

Swaddled in History! (The Multi-Generation Story of My Baptismal Clothes)

Notre Dame's Civil War "Roll of Honor" - James E. Taylor - With Sword *and* Brush

The University of Notre Dame Archives Comes Through Again!

GREAT News for Notre Dame/Civil War and e-Readers!

Harry's Just Wild About "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

Sister Act TWO!

Holy Cross Sisters: Navy Nurse Pioneers!

Holy Week 1864 with Notre Dame's Fr. Cooney

The First Days of the Civil War at Notre Dame - Part II - A Spirit of Fire

The First Days of the Civil War at Notre Dame - Part I - "Blood and Thunder"

Notre Dame's Civil War Roll of Honor - Cassius M. Brelsford : A Promising Life, Cut Short

The Perfect Gift for Civil War Catholic Sister-Nurses: Two Big Guns! What?!

Mother Angela - A VERY Rare and Exceptional Woman

The Holy Cross History Association: An Excellent Resource

Patrick McNamara Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

Notre Dame Civil War Chaplain Profile #4 - Fr. James M. Dillon

March 4, 1861 - Lincoln's Inauguration - A Letter from Notre Dame

A REAL "Band of Brothers" - Part II - A Unique GAR Post!

A REAL "Band of Brothers" - Part I

"The Civil War News" reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

The "Civil War Librarian" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

Notre Dame's Civil War "Roll of Honor" - John C. Lonergan

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - The Sword of Meagher - Part II

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - The Sword of Meagher - Part I

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - A Famous Flag - Part II

"The American Catholic" Reviews "Notre Dame in the Civil War"!

"The Best-natured Boys in the Play-yard" - The Pinkertons

In Which Jim Gets a Letter from Fr. Pete in Papua New Guinea!

The Penn Quakers Commemorate their Civil War Heitage!

"Confederate Book Review" Interviews the Author! (Me!)

"Irish in the American Civil War" Reviews "Notre Dame and the Civil War"!

Notre Dame Civil War Chaplain Profile #3 - Fr. Joseph C. Carrier

Notre Dame at the Battle of Stone's River - Part II - "A Martial Fire"

Notre Dame at the Battle of Stone's River - Part I - "Indifferent to Danger"

Christmas Eve 1864 for a Notre Dame Student-Soldier

"Notre Dame in the Civil War" Featured in South Bend Tribune!

Sources?! We Don't Need No Stinking Sources! (Wait, Yes We Do!)

And This Book Goes Out To.... (DEDICATION)

Giving THANKS! ("No Nonfiction Writer is an Island")"

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - A Famous Flag

1864 Election Night - Notre Dame Style!

"Fair Catch Corby" - Part II - 1910 Dedication

"Fair Catch Corby" - Part I - Raising the Dough

Judging a Book By Its Cover

Jim Channels Winona (Channeling Jo)

Notre Dame's Civil War "Roll of Honor" - James E. Taylor - With Sword and Brush