January 30, 2009
Devil Diarists of Winchester, Web Sites, Events and Programs, Cedar Creek, Trivia, Education Programs
Civil War Preservation Trust Teacher Newsletter
The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) is America's largest non-profit organization (501-C3) devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields. CWPT's Education Department promotes Civil War battlefield preservation by encouraging the study of the war's timeless lessons, provoking thought about the vital roles these battlefields play in our nation's history.
4. HELP CWPT SAVE CEDAR CREEK
Education Resources and Preservation Opportunity
==> How could you use this site to meet your state’s Standards of Learning and/or the NCSS standards?
This blog author shares quotes and stories from several Winchester, VA diarists. Their name possibly came from US Sec. of War Edwin Stanton, who visited the town and later said, “The men are all in the army, and the women are the devil.”
Several women in the town were prolific diarists. They recorded the happenings in their town – which changed hands over 70 times during the war. They were especially “troubled” by Union General Robert Milroy, who occupied the town from January through June of 1863. Gen. Milroy instituted martial law – which was common during the war – but Milroy was especially interested in punishing people he considered to be traitors. He wrote to his wife, “I can now realize something of the weighty and unpleasant responsibility that rests on a king…my will is absolute law–none dare contradict or dispute my slightest word or wish. I feel a strong disposition to play the tyrant among these traitors.’”
Milroy might have been a “tyrant”, but the ladies would not bend in their support of the Confederacy.
Here are some of the diarists mentioned in the article:
**Mary Greenhow Lee was a “feisty” 44-year-old widow: ““My contempt of the Yankees is so great that I cannot feel afraid of them. I know I can cow them and make them afraid of me whenever we come into collision.” She spoke of joy when she was “roused by the welcome sound that the town is full of Confederates, our hearts warmed by the sight of our men.” But soon, the men would be gone, “and the hated Yankees sneak through, looking so mean.” Winchester changed hands so many times that many weary families moved away.
Mary was extremely active for the Confederacy, even sending intelligence to Southern guerilla fighters. US Gen. Philip Sheridan was angry enough to send her “through the lines” in February, 1865. According to the blog author, Mary settled in Baltimore, never returning to Winchester. She was active in her new home too – helping with church and community programs.
**Julia Chase was 18-years old. She had been born in Maine but came to Winchester when her father became the town postmaster. The family had strong Unionist sympathies, with the father even going north for nine months to avoid arrest for his beliefs. She wrote that the ladies “put on many airs and frowns and sneers, and try in every way to put down the Union people. They are certainly very bold and impudent.”
**18-year-old Kate Sperry reflected on how the war had hardened her heart. “Have become reckless—stonehearted and everything, hard and pitiless.” She was devastated when she learned of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson’s death: “I firmly believe he‘s dead and feel so miserable–nearly cried my eyes out–poor Jackson–so noble–so brave–so loved by all the people. Oh, how we shall miss him.”
Even though Winchester suffered during the war – as did so many Southern communities – the town survived. Ironically, Northern investors funded a large resort and many Union soldiers and officers returned as *tourists* after the war!
==> Civil War diary / journal activities are very common in the classroom, but this blog offers different viewpoints from writers who were very passionate and articulate. You can examine:
* Different perspectives: two 18-year-olds, but one Union and one Confederate, and both in the same town;
* The perspectives of younger versus older women (Mary Lee - and Laura Lee, who lived with her mother-in-law);
* The perspectives of Confederate ladies in Winchester versus the perspectives of the men actually fighting the war;
* The perspectives of Winchester ladies versus ladies in your own community during the war;
*You may be able to research these diaries – or other diaries – and convert the texts into Readers’ Theater.
Share your ideas on our discussion blog in Facebook!
2. GREAT WEB SITES:
One of our most frequently asked questions is "How can I find a reenactor to come and talk to my class?" CWPT is happy to provide a list of living historians around the country willing to make classroom visits. Teachers should contact reenactors directly and interview them concerning the material they mean to present. Most reenactors will need several weeks advance notice and some will request a donation for services.
Lincoln and His Circle, from University of Rochester Rare Books and Special Collections.
“The project seeks to digitize and make available the letters to, from, and about Abraham Lincoln that are held in the collections of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of Rochester.” Read transcripts of many letters to and from Lincoln, and view images of many of the actual letters.
All-Girl Rhea County Spartans. “During the American Civil War, Rhea County (pronounced ray) was one of the few counties in eastern Tennessee that was sympathetic to the Confederate cause. The county raised seven companies to the Southern army, but only one for the Union. In the summer of 1862, the girls of Rhea County created the only female cavalry company raised on either side during the Civil War. These girls were frustrated because their gender prevented them from enlisting in the Confederate Army. They wanted to be a part of the struggle for Southern independence, so they created an army of their own. Almost all of the “sidesaddle soldiers,” as they were called, had fathers or brothers in the Confederate Army. The unit was made up of young women in their teens and twenties from the Washington community. They were all from prominent families in the area.” From the “Civil War Women” blog. Read bios and stories about women of the Civil War era, how they lived, what they did to survive, and how they fought for women's rights:
“Whitman's ‘Drum Taps’ and Washington's Civil War Hospitals”. More than a poetry site or a Whitman biography, this site explores hospitals, the evolution of military medicine, and the soldier experience.
“Rantings of A Civil War Historian”. Great blog – with interesting historical articles – by historian Eric Wittenberg. Today’s article features David F. Day, “Medal of Honor Winner, Fearless Scout, and Self-Appointed Gadfly.”
A great web tool for sharing long web links. This shrinks the web address down to a manageable size. Not Civil War related, but very useful for your presentations.
==> ==> ==> The CWPT history pages have moved to: www.civilwar.org/historyclassroom
==> Live Audience for National Teach-In on Lincoln
RSVP by February 5; Event on February 12 at 1 PM
National Archives, Washington DC
Join Lincoln scholars Doris Kearns Godwin, Matthew Pinsker & Harold Holzer as part of the audience for a live webcast about the life and legacy of our 16th president.
==> Mr. Lincoln's T-mails & Tales
National Postal Museum, Washington, DC
Saturday, Feb. 7 @ 1:00 p.m.
Abe Activities for Kids & an Author Talk for Parents. “Families, discover new angles on President Abraham Lincoln! Author Tom Wheeler discusses his book, Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails, which explores Lincoln's evolving use of the telegraph, invented just two years before the Civil War. Instantaneous electronic leadership deeply impacted Lincoln's relationships with his generals in the field in fascinating ways. ASL interpretation will be provided for the author talk. While parents enjoy the author talk, kids enjoy a children's workshop featuring “Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers”. In this true story, 11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Lincoln urging him to grow a beard to better appeal to voters. Lincoln wrote back! Kids ages 7-13 will write their own presidential letters, design Lincoln stamps, and enjoy other Abe activities.” Registration is required for the children's workshop: NPMprograms@si.edu or 202-633-5533.
==> PBS’s “Looking for Lincoln”
February 11; check listing for local air times
Presented and written by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., with commentary by Doris Kearns Godwin.
This is a two-hour series exploring Lincoln’s life and legacy and addressing many controversies– such as race, equality, religion, politics, and depression. It features Doris Kearns Godwin, Tony Kushner, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as many Lincoln scholars, journalists and writers.
Looking for Lincoln has a companion web site: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/lookingforlincoln. Watch the program online or use one of the many tools: primary sources, interactive timeline, myths quiz, interactive maps, photo gallery, and four full-length standards-based lesson plans (for elementary, middle and high school.)
==> Smithsonian Journeys: Lincoln in Washington
Apr 29 - May 3, 2009
Join famed historian Edwin C. Bearss to retrace Lincoln's days in the Nation's Capital during the year of his 200th birthday.Join famed historian Edwin C. Bearss to retrace Lincoln's days in the Nation's Capital during the year of his 200th birthday
==> 2008-2009 Poster & Essay Competition
Sponsored by Civil War Preservation Trust and by History
Deadline May 15, 2009
Use this activity to supplement your springtime Civil War Unit!
Motto: “It's Our Turn: Fight to Save Civil War Battlefields” -
For Grades 4 through 12
Posters: Elementary, Junior and Senior
Essays: Junior and Senior
History has donated awards for the top students AND their teachers.
Deadline: All entries must be received in our office by May 15, 2009.
==> Read guidelines at www.civilwar.org/historyclassroom/contests.htm.
For other springtime activities see “Adopt a Battlefield” at the end of this newsletter.
==> The Immortal 600: The Story of Civil War POWs
The video series is currently available in video format in the Georgia Public Broadcasting Digital Library:
The video series and teacher resource material will soon be available on the new Georgia Stories website: www.gpb.org/georgiastories
Provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation
==> The Immortal 600 teaching package, which meets the Georgia Performance Standards, includes video and lesson plans designed to challenge the intellect and enhance the oral/written skills of eighth grade students. The video and curriculum package will allow students to learn the story of the Immortal 600 and the concept of POWs. In addition, students will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia, as well as consider how the treatment of POWs during the conflict changed society. Unique to the Immortal 600 educational package is a group activity that allows students to participate (representing different governmental entities) in a public meeting to determine the passage of a cemetery relocation permit. This hands-on, group activity will teach students about the role of local governments in Georgia and the affect of laws on their contemporary values and beliefs.
The story of Civil War prisoners is the story of the Civil War itself. The Immortal 600, a group of Confederate POWs, is one story which has gone relatively unnoticed in the history of the Civil War. In 1864, Union General John Gray Foster ordered 600 Confederate prisoners to be brought to Morris Island from Fort Delaware. The 600 Confederate prisoners were herded onto the steamer Crescent City for the journey south to Charleston. The Confederate prisoners were housed in A-frame tents within the Morris Island stockade and poorly fed, mirroring the conditions of other Civil War prisoner of war (POW) camps. The prisoners were forced to sleep in the sand and endure sand fleas, insects, and hot weather. The stockade on Morris Island was strategically placed so that both cannon fire from Federal guns and return fire from Confederate cannons blasted over the stockade. As such, the 600 Confederate POWs were exposed to cannon fire from both the Confederate and Federal armies. In 1905, John O. Murray, one of the survivors, wrote a book about the Confederate prisoners' ordeal. He called the group of prisoners the Immortal 600, the name by which they are still known today.
In 2005, the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) and Brockington and Associates conducted cemetery excavations at the Roughton/Browne Family Cemetery in Washington County, Georgia. The cemetery was relocated to Brownwood Cemetery in Sandersville, Georgia, due to the proposed widening and reconstruction of SR 24/SR 540. A permit to relocate the cemetery was first obtained from Washington County Superior Court in December 2004 in accordance with Georgia's 1991 Abandoned Cemetery Act (Official Code of Georgia 36-72-1-16).
The Roughton/Browne Family Cemetery, containing approximately 15 graves, was identified by a single obelisk inscribed with the names George W. Roughton, Elizabeth Kinman Roughton, and Joseph Browne and one headstone inscribed as follows: Capt/Georgia [sic] W Roughton/CO 1/49 GA INF/CSA/1834/1895/ "ONE OF THE IMMORTAL 600."
==> If you have questions concerning the Immortal 600 educational package, or if you would like learn more about educational opportunities offered by Georgia DOT's Cultural Resource Section, please contact Crystal Paulk-Buchanan at 404-631-1835 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
4. HELP CWPT SAVE CEDAR CREEK:
Education Resources and Preservation Opportunity
CWPT has the opportunity to help save Cedar Creek, site of a surprise attack by Jubal Early, and a successful counter-attack by Philip Sheridan.
==> View maps (including an animated map), photos, articles, news and get book recommendations about this important battle and the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign. Watch all the action unfold — from Jubal Early's surprise assault to Sheridan's successful counter-attack.
==> A Belgian mining company is looking to dig up more of the Cedar Creek battlefield. You and your students can help us by sending them a letter of concern. View our collection of modern and historical photos of the Cedar Creek battlefield, plus see aerial views of the massive limestone mines.
Amid relentless truck traffic, choking clouds of limestone dust, new housing developments and their inevitable sprawl... Will you stand with the CWPT in working to preserve this important battlefield before it is too late?
A. How is the woman in this painting (http://dwarfurl.com/93949) connected to the Civil War?
B. Which Confederate soldier made the following statement? “The military value of a partisan’s work is not measured by the amount of property destroyed or the number of men killed or captured, but by the number he keeps watching.”
C. The following statement (about Jefferson Davis) was said by whom? “We have always been enemies. I cannot pretend I am sorry he is gone. I am no hypocrite.”
D. Who was “Hobart Pasha” and how was he connected to the American Civil War?
E. To whom was this letter – written by William H. Seward – written?
“DEPARTMENT OF STATE, April 22, 1861.
"SIR,—I have had the honor to receive your communication of this morning, in which you have informed me that you have felt it to be your duty to advise the President of the United States to order elsewhere the troops off Annapolis, and also that no more be sent through Maryland, and that you have further suggested that Lord Lyons be requested to act as mediator between the contending parties in our country, to prevent the effusion of blood.
“The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of that communication…. He regrets as deeply as any Magistrate or citizen of the country can, that demonstrations against the safety of the United States, with very extensive preparations for the effusion of blood, have made it his duty to call out the force to which you allude. The force now sought to be sent through Maryland is intended for nothing but the defense of this capital…”
==> ** CWPT Gifted & Talented Curriculum: Character & Leadership in the Civil War:
Examine Civil War leaders through the lenses of character and leadership. Designed for “gifted and talented” students — or for students with a special interest in the Civil War — this adaptable enrichment experience may be used alone or in addition to your existing curriculum. Follows the NCSS Thematic Strands as well as Character Counts!(sm) and the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.
==> **Two-Week Civil War Curriculum CD-ROM:
For grades 5, 8 & 11. Download online, or send your land address. The classroom curriculum guide is endorsed by History (The History Channel). According to Dr. Libby O'Connell, Chief Historian at History, the CWPT Civil War curriculum guide is "the best two-week curriculum on the Civil War available to teachers today."
==> **Teacher Institute: July 24-26, 2009, Spotsylvania County Virginia:
Eighth Annual Teacher Institute from July 24-26, 2009 in Spotsylvania County, VA. Features "field trip" tours of Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, focusing on techniques teachers can use to make a battlefield visit a central part of their Civil War curriculum. Open to all teachers and school librarians grades K-12, not just history teachers. For more information contact the Civil War Preservation Trust at (202) 367-1861 ext. 223 or email email@example.com.
==> More Civil War Lesson Plans:
==> **Classroom Memberships:
Monthly "Civil War Classroom" and quarterly "Hallowed Ground" magazine, classroom materials, curriculum CD-ROM & "It Happened in the Civil War". Email to sponsor a classroom, sign up, or review a newsletter.
==>**Adopt a Battlefield:
Great for your springtime Civil War unit! Receive free Civil War materials including a mix of fun and informative items with adaptable activities. Participants pledge to become involved in preservation through fundraising, service and advocacy. For youths, classrooms, scouts, and homeschoolers.
==>**Civil War Preservation Trust Book List:
Rent one for the 2009-2010 school year to access hands-on items, books, music and visuals.
A. The woman in the painting is “Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau”, as painted by America’s John Singer Sargent. Her father was Major Anatole Avegno – commander of the Avegno Zouaves of Louisiana. Soldiers from several different nationalities fought in this group: France, Ireland, China, Mexico, Italy and Spain. A larger version of this 1884 painting – which shocked the Salon and embarrassed both Sargent and Gatreau – can be seen here: (http://dwarfurl.com/9bcb7).
B. Colonel John Singleton Mosby said this. (Source: Civil War Times April 2009)
Classroom: you may want to have your students analyze this statement. What does this mean? Do they agree? Mosby is considering the fear value of having a partisan “on the loose”. Can the students make comparisons with similar groups, past and present?
Partisan Ranger Act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partisan_Ranger_Act
Partisan Warfare in the American Civil War: http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/articles/ArticleView.cfm?AID=68
C. P.G.T. Beauregard is reported to have said this upon hearing of Jefferson Davis’ death (1889).
Source: Civil War Times, August 2008.
A good biography of Beauregard: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/General_P_G_T_Beauregard.htm.
D. Hobart Pasha was actually the Honorable Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden.
He had quite a life and quite a career: a son of the Earl of Buckinhamshire, a former captain of Queen Victoria’s yacht, a midshipman in the Royal Navy who worked to suppress the slave trade near Brazil, an Admiral in the Turkish fleet (with the title “Pasha”) – and, a blockade runner in the service of the Confederacy. This adventure-lover reportedly ran the blockade 18 times in his ship, the “Don”, taking war materials to Charleston and bringing back cotton. After the war he wrote a book about his experiences under the name “Captain Robert”. (You may read his book at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16296/16296-8.txt).
E. It was written to Thomas H. Hicks, Governor of Maryland.
Harpers Weekly reprinted the letter in its May 4, 1861 issue: (http://dwarfurl.com/3e7e7).
Civil War Preservation Trust
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