Michigan Civil War Blog

In memoriam

He would have been 85 today ...

Michigan CW roundtables

Since we're doing lists here recently, why not try to see how many Civil War roundtable organizations exist here in the Great Lake State.

I can count six: Ann Arbor (AACWRT), Kalamazoo (KCWRT), Farmington (MRCWRT), Rochester (IBRCWRT), Plymouth (ALCWRT), Bay City (7thMCWRT).

Are there others?

In memoriam

This blog isn't to be about me, but I have to confess to one of my interests for this post. I've been a fan of Thomas Wolfe since reading Look Homeward, Angel in 1971 when my father gifted me with this book that had touched him many years before. I'm a charter member of The Thomas Wolfe Society, organized in 1977. So it was with sadness, and surprise at the Michigan connection, to learn of the passing of a Wolfe scholar today:

"Theodore Robert Mitchell (Ted) of Arden, NC, died Saturday, December 6, 2008 at JFK Solace Center in Asheville after a short illness. He was 59 years old.

A native of Oak Park, Michigan, Ted moved to Asheville in 1988. He was employed by Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community and was a volunteer at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site where he had formerly worked as an historic site interpreter for over 13 years. A researcher, scholar and writer, Ted contributed nearly 30 books, essays and articles on American novelist, Thomas Wolfe. His most recent publications included Thomas Wolfe: A Writers Life (1997) and Windows of the Heart: The Correspondence of Thomas Wolfe and Margaret Roberts (2007). Ted was an active member of the Thomas Wolfe Society and was the former director of the long running Thomas Wolfe Festival held annually in Asheville.

Ted’s devotion to and reverence for Thomas Wolfe and his contributions to American letters was second only to his devotion and love for those who were fortunate enough to be counted among his friends and colleagues. Ted’s kind words and thoughtful insights into life’s many challenges were a constant source of inspiration and comfort for those around him. His unique and humorous perspectives on life could bring a smile to even the most hardened of souls. Ted loved the natural world around him and, until his recent illness prevented it, he enjoyed daily walks along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The beauty and grandeur of the mountains of North Carolina never seemed to lose their hold on Ted. A pair of binoculars was always by his living room window so that he could occasionally gaze upon the majesty of Mt. Pisgah in the distance.

Ted was the son of the late Ilias and Edna Mitchell. A brother, David, predeceased him. Ted leaves behind a brother, Rick Mitchell, and sister-in-law, April, of Royal Oak, Michigan, as well as an extended family of loving friends, colleagues, residents of Deerfield Retirement Community and members of the Thomas Wolfe Society.

Arrangements are in the care of Harwood Home for Funerals, 208 W. State St., Black Mountain, NC. A memorial service celebrating the life of Ted will be held Thursday, December 11, at 4:00 pm at St. Giles Chapel on the campus of Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Center, 1617 Hendersonville Road."

My heartfelt condolences to family and friends.

The man who would be Custer

Here's an article in today's daily blat about Steve Alexander, a G.A. Custer living historian: Freep. Mr. A thinks Michigan's most famous Civil War general deserves much more than opprobrium, and he attempts to teach -- via performance -- characteristics of the man that Hollywood is still clueless about. I enjoyed Little Big Man back in the day, but I had nothing but disgust over the Custer portrayal. Won't watch it since. The world is still waiting for an historically accurate account.

The interviewer seems to betray a less than accepting attitude. He seems, well, skeptical, and that's a charitable assessment. But at least the intelligent reader can see between the lines. And in that, comes learning.

Cascades muster pt. V

Reenacting requires, I imagine, a complete appreciation of what history is being 'lived'. It isn't just playing at soldier; the full consequences of the experience being replicated have to be comprehended. Certain of that, I offer two photos from last weekend to cement the idea that the experience is incomplete without reminders about the object of the exercise: killing the enemy.

These vignettes made me wonder about the fire-eaters of the 1850's. Didn't they know? Couldn't they see the horrible human cost that their decisions prompted. Perhaps they should have been made to study such images for lengthy periods of time, imagining the friends and family who would be their subject matter.

It is good that war is so terrible, a general said. Wishful thinking, that.

Cascades muster pt.IV

After the affair, circling around the area revealed a number of interesting sites:

Tomorrow nite, the last pics, perhaps the most poignant.

Cascades muster pt.III

After the reenactment, the 'Rebs' lined up parade-ground style:

Pic. 2. Union reenactors passed in review:

Pic. 4. Perhaps my favorite, tho not the best artistically. Why? Look closely at the faces and see the America that was to emerge from the conflict:

I think I have two more 'parts' to go the next two days...

Cascades muster pt.II

Pic. 1 After the first phase appeared to be a Union success, the tide turned with militia's collapse.

Pic. 2. Union casualties mounted.

Pic. 3. Ground was retaken, and held, despite Federal counterattacking.

Pic. 4. A flanking manuver sealed the outcome.

Pic. 5. Confederates held the field at the end of the conflict. 

Cascades muster pt. I

As I write this, Day 2's battle is going on, about 45 minutes or so from my laptop. I'm sure it's as amazing as Day 1's. What follows will be in pictures, for they better tell the story.

Pic. 1. Parking lot shot, an attempt to show the 700 or so cars.

Pic. 1a. Part of the crowd.

Pic 2. Reenactor band entertaining the crowd.

Pic. 3. Confederate artillery fire, with with a future reenactor in the foreground.

Pic. 4. Union regulars firing.

Pic. 5. Iowa militia advancing.

Pic. 6. Union troops in full force.

The cornfield helps the mind imagine. Since this is Wilson's Creek, a Southern victory, tomorrow we'll show their counterattack.

Volunteers

My gardener spouse uses this term to describe plants that turn up where you do not expect. I think it's equally applicable to those in the Civil War community who do a lot of the 'dirty' work.

A story. In Spring 1996, the Emmet County Department of Public Works in northwestern Michigan was  installing new sewer lines near the historic Perry Hotel when a heavy, dirt-encrusted object was unearthed. First reaction: a piece of broken sewer pipe. Wrong. It was a Civil War artillery piece. The cannon was transported to the County garage and unloaded out back. There it lay until July 2002 when the DPW head asked if the local SUVCW camp was interested in rescuing the piece before it was destroyed. The answer: yes!

It was a Confederate “substitute iron Napoleon” that had been cast at a foundry in Augusta GA in 1864.

The camp took on the task of restoration, no mean feat after just completing a $85,000 fundraising campaign to restore the Traverse City “Old Soldiers” Monument. On June 23, 2008, Robert Finch Camp No. 14 presented the artillery piece to the city of Petoskey as a gift during a ceremony in Arlington Park near the Perry Hotel in Petoskey, right across the street from where it was found.

According to the local paper, the cannon was dedicated to the memory of all Little Traverse region veterans of the Civil War. Also in attendance were representatives of the SCVCW, the National Woman’s Relief Corps, the Frances Finch Auxiliary No. 9, the Little Traverse Historical Society, and the Marine Corps League. Arlington Park is the site where G.A.R. reunions were held.

As they used to say, power to the people.