Friday, August 29, 2008
Labor Day Weekend
Just want to wish everyone a fun and safe Labor Day Holiday. I am going to another family reunion. This time in Tennessee. See you all when I get back!
Expanding the Reach of Genealogy Societies and Conferences
On August 25, Dick Eastman wrote an article concerning recruiting new members for Genealogy organizations. I found it very interesting and honestly wrote. Genealogy does expand beyond just doing the research. Mr. Eastman's article, I believe, should be read by not just Genealogy organizations but also all other organizations that pertain to ones heritage like Civil War Round Tables, UDC, SOC, DAR, War of 1812, etc. I believe all organizations should work together to help remember our loved ones!
I have copied it word for word. I hope you take the time to read his article. You can click here to find the original article plus comments from individuals. If you have a comment please leave it for Mr. Eastman.
There are two contradictory "facts" floating around among genealogy societies, points that I hear discussed at almost all the genealogy conferences and meetings that I attend:
Fact #1: Genealogy is more popular today than ever before. It is the second or third or fourth most popular topic on the Web, depending upon whose sources you care to cite.
Fact #2: Attendance at all genealogy venues is down. The average attendance at genealogy conferences is declining. (Note that I wrote "average." There are some notable exceptions.) Membership in genealogy societies is also declining. Finally, the number of visitors to most major genealogy libraries reportedly is declining.
Is it just me, or does anyone else see a contradiction in these two "facts?" If interest in genealogy is growing, why aren't we seeing more and more people at conferences, libraries, and society meetings?
I would like to offer some possible solutions to this quandary.
In the past few years, I have attended dozens genealogy conferences in three different countries. I have attended two genealogy and heritage conferences that have attracted more than 12,000 attendees each, although with a very different format from the typical genealogy conference. I also was a visitor a few months ago at a non-genealogy event where five or six genealogy societies had booths and talked to hundreds of non-genealogists.
Over the past twenty years I have attended perhaps 100 regional, national, and international genealogy conferences and have visited several dozen genealogy societies. I have seen some ideas that worked well, some that did not work so well, and a few that totally fizzled. I am not sure if I am an expert in the topic of shrinking attendance, but a few observations do stand out in my mind.
First of all, genealogy societies need to grow in order to succeed. To be sure, some societies have existed for years with a more or less stable number of members, or even with declining membership numbers. However, the societies that seem to succeed in producing new services and publications are those that are growing. Constant growth means new people joining with new ideas and invigorated interest levels. Newcomers soon gain experience and then become the "movers and shakers" within the genealogy community. Those who have been around for a number of years, conversing with the same people time after time, tend to settle in and enjoy the social aspects of the local society, but they do not strike out with new ideas and new energy levels. The genealogy societies with declining memberships rarely produce new and innovative products and services.
Next, when we (the long-term the members of genealogy societies) go to genealogy conventions to advertise our services and products, we are "preaching to the choir." Who goes to genealogy conventions? The long-time genealogists who already know about our products and services! Yes, the attendees at genealogy conferences typically are those who have been researching their family trees for some time. They probably already know about your society and made a determination some time ago whether or not to join. The bigger the conference and the more people attracted, the truer this seems to be.
For instance, I have attended twenty of the last twenty-one annual national conferences of the U.S. National Genealogical Society. I have also attended about two-thirds of the Federation of Genealogical Society's national conferences in the past twenty years, as well as every single GENTECH conference ever held. You know who I saw at this year's conferences? Mostly the same people that I saw last year and the year before. Some of those faces look very familiar; in many cases I think I have been seeing the same faces for twenty years! These are people who already know about the services of your society. Exhibiting at national and local genealogical conferences may be a desirable thing, but it does not attract many new members!
What we need is new blood. We need those mysterious people who are buying the software and surfing the web's genealogy pages and newsgroups. These people are in "stealth” mode; we know they are lurking out there someplace, but we have difficulty locating them. We need to attract these people to both local and national genealogy conferences. If they could become "hooked" at the conferences, I bet a significant number of them would join local and ethnic genealogy societies. Yes, they could energize societies as we watch membership begin to increase. I bet they would also attend conferences.
So, how do we find and interest these people? We (the old-time members of the societies) cannot wait for them to come to us. Instead, we have to go to the potential newcomers. We cannot go to genealogy conferences that keep attracting the same crowd year after year and expect our membership numbers to grow as a result. We have to seek out potential newcomers wherever they are. And I assure you that is not at genealogy conferences.
Several years ago I spent several days working in a genealogy society's booth at the Eastern States Exposition, an event locally referred to as "The Big E." This Exposition is similar to a state fair, except that it covers all six New England states. It was an eye-opening experience. More than one million people attended this 17-day event, and an estimated 750,000 of those people walked by the genealogy booth where I worked. To be sure, not all of the attendees stopped to talk, but thousands did. Yes, thousands. I think we (the society) talked with more people at this one 17-day event than we do the rest of the year at all the genealogy events combined.
Talking with the general public is a fascinating experience. To be sure, the conversations mostly were at an introductory level since most of these people had no idea who their great-grandparents were. We had a high-speed Internet connection in the booth and spent many hours looking at Social Security Death Index records, as well as a variety of Web sites in addition to our own. We handed out blank pedigree charts by the thousands, along with some advertising materials.
Not all of these people went home and started looking up their family trees that evening or the next day; but, a significant number did. I also believe that we planted many "genealogy seeds" that may not sprout for months or perhaps years. What we did do well is that we got many of these people to start thinking about their family heritage, people who would not have started that thought process if we only exhibited at genealogy events. I believe that some number of these people will join a genealogy society in the coming weeks, months, and years. Admittedly, I do not have an accurate yardstick to measure the success of our efforts at this non-genealogy event. All I have is intuition and some one-on-one feedback from individuals. Yet every staff member and volunteer who worked in the genealogy booth at this event expressed satisfaction with our efforts and believes that we "did good."
Other venues that would seem suitable for a genealogy society's booth would include:
Any event that celebrates history, such as "Old Time Days"
Any ethnic heritage events, such as St. Patrick's Day celebrations
State, county and local agricultural fairs
Civil War re-enactments
Revolutionary War re-enactments
Highland games associations' events
Antique auto shows
Steam engine and old gasoline engine meets
I am sure that you can add to the above list. You can probably find other potential events within the next year in your vicinity.
In short, I would urge you and every other genealogy society member to creatively find new places in which to advertise your society's products and services. While it is good to advertise to genealogists, it is even more important to generate publicity among those who never heard of your organization. In short, you need to advertise to the general public. The only way to do this is to go out and find the general public at the places where the public gathers. It works best if the people you talk to have at least a casual interest in history and/or heritage, such as the people who attend the types of events I listed above.
I am reminded of a very old joke that has been told millions of times. Many years ago, a shoe manufacturer felt they had saturated the U.S., Canadian, and European markets. They already sold millions of pairs of shoes every year but wanted to increase those sales even further. Seeking new markets, they sent a salesman to darkest Africa where there were no shoe manufacturers.
The salesman wired back to the home office, "The people here do not wear shoes. There is no opportunity to sell shoes. I am returning home rather than wasting my time any further."
Undaunted, the home office sent another salesman known to have a unique way of looking at sales situations. A few days later he wired back, "The people here do not wear shoes. The potential market is unlimited! Please send all the shoes you can spare, I am going to stay and make a fortune!"
The joke is an old one, but perhaps it does point out that new viewpoints and new approaches are needed. I would suggest that it is time to throw away some of the ideas we have held for years.
How does your genealogy society "sell" its services and products? Are you seeking new members/customers in markets that are already saturated? Or are you seeking opportunities in places where genealogy is unknown? Where are you most likely to find new members?
Has your genealogy or local history society had any success publicizing its efforts and attracting new members via nontraditional methods? If so, would you mind sharing your success stories so that others could benefit from your ideas? Please post your stories and comments at the end of this article in the comments section. Please tell what your society did, along with any description possible of the benefits derived. Other newsletter readers can see your comments immediately on the Web site and benefit from them, and you may get ideas to further your own efforts as well.
Let’s all share some ideas.
I have copied it word for word. I hope you take the time to read his article. You can click here to find the original article plus comments from individuals. If you have a comment please leave it for Mr. Eastman.
There are two contradictory "facts" floating around among genealogy societies, points that I hear discussed at almost all the genealogy conferences and meetings that I attend:
Fact #1: Genealogy is more popular today than ever before. It is the second or third or fourth most popular topic on the Web, depending upon whose sources you care to cite.
Fact #2: Attendance at all genealogy venues is down. The average attendance at genealogy conferences is declining. (Note that I wrote "average." There are some notable exceptions.) Membership in genealogy societies is also declining. Finally, the number of visitors to most major genealogy libraries reportedly is declining.
Is it just me, or does anyone else see a contradiction in these two "facts?" If interest in genealogy is growing, why aren't we seeing more and more people at conferences, libraries, and society meetings?
I would like to offer some possible solutions to this quandary.
In the past few years, I have attended dozens genealogy conferences in three different countries. I have attended two genealogy and heritage conferences that have attracted more than 12,000 attendees each, although with a very different format from the typical genealogy conference. I also was a visitor a few months ago at a non-genealogy event where five or six genealogy societies had booths and talked to hundreds of non-genealogists.
Over the past twenty years I have attended perhaps 100 regional, national, and international genealogy conferences and have visited several dozen genealogy societies. I have seen some ideas that worked well, some that did not work so well, and a few that totally fizzled. I am not sure if I am an expert in the topic of shrinking attendance, but a few observations do stand out in my mind.
First of all, genealogy societies need to grow in order to succeed. To be sure, some societies have existed for years with a more or less stable number of members, or even with declining membership numbers. However, the societies that seem to succeed in producing new services and publications are those that are growing. Constant growth means new people joining with new ideas and invigorated interest levels. Newcomers soon gain experience and then become the "movers and shakers" within the genealogy community. Those who have been around for a number of years, conversing with the same people time after time, tend to settle in and enjoy the social aspects of the local society, but they do not strike out with new ideas and new energy levels. The genealogy societies with declining memberships rarely produce new and innovative products and services.
Next, when we (the long-term the members of genealogy societies) go to genealogy conventions to advertise our services and products, we are "preaching to the choir." Who goes to genealogy conventions? The long-time genealogists who already know about our products and services! Yes, the attendees at genealogy conferences typically are those who have been researching their family trees for some time. They probably already know about your society and made a determination some time ago whether or not to join. The bigger the conference and the more people attracted, the truer this seems to be.
For instance, I have attended twenty of the last twenty-one annual national conferences of the U.S. National Genealogical Society. I have also attended about two-thirds of the Federation of Genealogical Society's national conferences in the past twenty years, as well as every single GENTECH conference ever held. You know who I saw at this year's conferences? Mostly the same people that I saw last year and the year before. Some of those faces look very familiar; in many cases I think I have been seeing the same faces for twenty years! These are people who already know about the services of your society. Exhibiting at national and local genealogical conferences may be a desirable thing, but it does not attract many new members!
What we need is new blood. We need those mysterious people who are buying the software and surfing the web's genealogy pages and newsgroups. These people are in "stealth” mode; we know they are lurking out there someplace, but we have difficulty locating them. We need to attract these people to both local and national genealogy conferences. If they could become "hooked" at the conferences, I bet a significant number of them would join local and ethnic genealogy societies. Yes, they could energize societies as we watch membership begin to increase. I bet they would also attend conferences.
So, how do we find and interest these people? We (the old-time members of the societies) cannot wait for them to come to us. Instead, we have to go to the potential newcomers. We cannot go to genealogy conferences that keep attracting the same crowd year after year and expect our membership numbers to grow as a result. We have to seek out potential newcomers wherever they are. And I assure you that is not at genealogy conferences.
Several years ago I spent several days working in a genealogy society's booth at the Eastern States Exposition, an event locally referred to as "The Big E." This Exposition is similar to a state fair, except that it covers all six New England states. It was an eye-opening experience. More than one million people attended this 17-day event, and an estimated 750,000 of those people walked by the genealogy booth where I worked. To be sure, not all of the attendees stopped to talk, but thousands did. Yes, thousands. I think we (the society) talked with more people at this one 17-day event than we do the rest of the year at all the genealogy events combined.
Talking with the general public is a fascinating experience. To be sure, the conversations mostly were at an introductory level since most of these people had no idea who their great-grandparents were. We had a high-speed Internet connection in the booth and spent many hours looking at Social Security Death Index records, as well as a variety of Web sites in addition to our own. We handed out blank pedigree charts by the thousands, along with some advertising materials.
Not all of these people went home and started looking up their family trees that evening or the next day; but, a significant number did. I also believe that we planted many "genealogy seeds" that may not sprout for months or perhaps years. What we did do well is that we got many of these people to start thinking about their family heritage, people who would not have started that thought process if we only exhibited at genealogy events. I believe that some number of these people will join a genealogy society in the coming weeks, months, and years. Admittedly, I do not have an accurate yardstick to measure the success of our efforts at this non-genealogy event. All I have is intuition and some one-on-one feedback from individuals. Yet every staff member and volunteer who worked in the genealogy booth at this event expressed satisfaction with our efforts and believes that we "did good."
Other venues that would seem suitable for a genealogy society's booth would include:
Any event that celebrates history, such as "Old Time Days"
Any ethnic heritage events, such as St. Patrick's Day celebrations
State, county and local agricultural fairs
Civil War re-enactments
Revolutionary War re-enactments
Highland games associations' events
Antique auto shows
Steam engine and old gasoline engine meets
I am sure that you can add to the above list. You can probably find other potential events within the next year in your vicinity.
In short, I would urge you and every other genealogy society member to creatively find new places in which to advertise your society's products and services. While it is good to advertise to genealogists, it is even more important to generate publicity among those who never heard of your organization. In short, you need to advertise to the general public. The only way to do this is to go out and find the general public at the places where the public gathers. It works best if the people you talk to have at least a casual interest in history and/or heritage, such as the people who attend the types of events I listed above.
I am reminded of a very old joke that has been told millions of times. Many years ago, a shoe manufacturer felt they had saturated the U.S., Canadian, and European markets. They already sold millions of pairs of shoes every year but wanted to increase those sales even further. Seeking new markets, they sent a salesman to darkest Africa where there were no shoe manufacturers.
The salesman wired back to the home office, "The people here do not wear shoes. There is no opportunity to sell shoes. I am returning home rather than wasting my time any further."
Undaunted, the home office sent another salesman known to have a unique way of looking at sales situations. A few days later he wired back, "The people here do not wear shoes. The potential market is unlimited! Please send all the shoes you can spare, I am going to stay and make a fortune!"
The joke is an old one, but perhaps it does point out that new viewpoints and new approaches are needed. I would suggest that it is time to throw away some of the ideas we have held for years.
How does your genealogy society "sell" its services and products? Are you seeking new members/customers in markets that are already saturated? Or are you seeking opportunities in places where genealogy is unknown? Where are you most likely to find new members?
Has your genealogy or local history society had any success publicizing its efforts and attracting new members via nontraditional methods? If so, would you mind sharing your success stories so that others could benefit from your ideas? Please post your stories and comments at the end of this article in the comments section. Please tell what your society did, along with any description possible of the benefits derived. Other newsletter readers can see your comments immediately on the Web site and benefit from them, and you may get ideas to further your own efforts as well.
Let’s all share some ideas.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Looking for Reenactments & More - Look Here
If you enjoy watching Civil War reenactments but don't know where to find them all. There is a great site called Civil War Travel where you can find listings of events that you can see the entire listing or view events by states. You can listen to podcast, get the latest news and much more. I often visit this site to see what is happening in my state and and check up on news events.
For the remaining months of 2008 there is hundreds of reenactments and more going on. You'll want to bookmark this very informative site!
For the remaining months of 2008 there is hundreds of reenactments and more going on. You'll want to bookmark this very informative site!
Virtual Book Signing
Isn't it great when you purchase a book, meet the author and have him or her sign your book but now you don't even have to leave your home. What an idea!
I just happened upon a neat site called VirtualBooksigning.net. I think this is a great idea that Daniel Weinberg the proprietor of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop had. Everything is done while you stay at home, sit in front of your computer, listen and ask question via email.
Some of the upcoming authors:
September 13th, 12:00 Noon. Join us as we welcome Peter Cozzens and Noah Andre Trudeau.
October 17th, 7:00 pm. Join us as we welcome Harold Holzer
October 25th, 12:00 noon. Join us as we welcome Craig Symonds and
Andrew Jampoler
November 10th at 6:00 pm. Join is as we welcome James McPherson
December 6, at 12:00 noon. Join us as we welcome Michael Burlingame
All you have to do is subscribe to the site, purchase your book, log-into the site on the day and time of the books signing and listen, speak to the author while your book is signed. Now how easy is that!
I just happened upon a neat site called VirtualBooksigning.net. I think this is a great idea that Daniel Weinberg the proprietor of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop had. Everything is done while you stay at home, sit in front of your computer, listen and ask question via email.
Some of the upcoming authors:
September 13th, 12:00 Noon. Join us as we welcome Peter Cozzens and Noah Andre Trudeau.
October 17th, 7:00 pm. Join us as we welcome Harold Holzer
October 25th, 12:00 noon. Join us as we welcome Craig Symonds and
Andrew Jampoler
November 10th at 6:00 pm. Join is as we welcome James McPherson
December 6, at 12:00 noon. Join us as we welcome Michael Burlingame
All you have to do is subscribe to the site, purchase your book, log-into the site on the day and time of the books signing and listen, speak to the author while your book is signed. Now how easy is that!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Marble Man
Edward Virginius Valentine developed an interest in art as a young child growing up in Richmond, Virginia, in the 1850s. When he was fifteen years old, the adolescent Valentine traveled to New York City with his father to explore the Exhibition of Industry of All Nations-a precursor to the world’s fair. The young Valentine was so enthralled by August Kiss’s bronze statue Amazon Attacked by a Lion that he became determined to be a sculptor.
After studying under artists in Richmond and attending anatomy classes at the Medical College of Virginia, Valentine decided that Europe was the place to learn his art. In 1858, with civil war looming, he set sail for Paris. By 1861 he was studying sculpture under August Kiss in Berlin.
Valentine returned to a far different Richmond in 1865-a Richmond that was in ruins from four years of constant warfare. He soon established a reputation as a sculpture of “good likenesses.” Portrait busts paid the bills, but Valentine yearned to do “ideals,” which were more abstract in design and thought provoking.
In 1870 Valentine received permission to visit Robert E. Lee in Lexington, Virginia, where the aging Confederate chieftain was president of Washington College. Valentine took measurements for a bust and made a rough cast, which the Lees liked. Soon after Valentine returned to Richmond, word came that Lee had died on October 12. With Mrs. Lee’s endorsement, Washington College commissioned Valentine to create a memorial sarcophagus for the Lee Chapel-where Lee attended service every day during his tenure at the small college. Recumbent Lee, which depicts Lee asleep in his tent before a battle, won the sculptor great praise. This piece is still the focal point of the sanctuary of the Lee Chapel.
After the war, Lee became a godlike figure for a defeated South. White Protestants saw him as the ideal of southern gentility. Good and noble, to them Lee was a hero with no faults and a symbol of the Lost Cause. Overwhelmed by superior Yankee numbers and industry, Lee had not lost the war. If any Confederate culpability was due, it was aimed at Lee’s cauldron of moody lieutenants.
One day, as the rain poured outside his Lexington home, Lee got up from his armchair and put on his cloak as his daughter Mildred played the piano. She was paying Mendelssohn’s “Song Without Words” and as he readied to leave she played the doleful “Funeral March.” He kissed her and teased her for her morbid selection as he trudged off to a prayer service on campus. When he returned for dinner, he sat down at the table to say grace. No words came out. For more than a week the stroke-stricken Lee lay in bed as the rain continued to pour down. The tropical rains flooded Lexington as Lee was dying. “I am so weary,” he would barely mumble. Lee died just as the storm ceased and the October sun again shone. The Marble Man had outlasted the rains.
The great artist Edward Valentine lived into his nineties, dying on October 19, 1930. His greatest work was his marble rendition of Lee.
I personally have visited Lexington, Virginia and saw the memorial sarcophagus. I can say it really does look like Robert E. Lee is just a sleep. If you find the time I would highly recommend a visit to Lexington, VA to visit Washington and Lee Military College plus Lee's chapel. Down stairs of the chapel is Lee's office which hasn't been touched since he died. Everything was left as he left it. Lee's wife and family burial are there also. Right out side the doors where the Lee's family is buried is where Robert E. Lee's horse Traveller is buried. Pictures with in the chapel were not allowed so these to are the only ones I got.
After studying under artists in Richmond and attending anatomy classes at the Medical College of Virginia, Valentine decided that Europe was the place to learn his art. In 1858, with civil war looming, he set sail for Paris. By 1861 he was studying sculpture under August Kiss in Berlin.
Valentine returned to a far different Richmond in 1865-a Richmond that was in ruins from four years of constant warfare. He soon established a reputation as a sculpture of “good likenesses.” Portrait busts paid the bills, but Valentine yearned to do “ideals,” which were more abstract in design and thought provoking.
In 1870 Valentine received permission to visit Robert E. Lee in Lexington, Virginia, where the aging Confederate chieftain was president of Washington College. Valentine took measurements for a bust and made a rough cast, which the Lees liked. Soon after Valentine returned to Richmond, word came that Lee had died on October 12. With Mrs. Lee’s endorsement, Washington College commissioned Valentine to create a memorial sarcophagus for the Lee Chapel-where Lee attended service every day during his tenure at the small college. Recumbent Lee, which depicts Lee asleep in his tent before a battle, won the sculptor great praise. This piece is still the focal point of the sanctuary of the Lee Chapel.
After the war, Lee became a godlike figure for a defeated South. White Protestants saw him as the ideal of southern gentility. Good and noble, to them Lee was a hero with no faults and a symbol of the Lost Cause. Overwhelmed by superior Yankee numbers and industry, Lee had not lost the war. If any Confederate culpability was due, it was aimed at Lee’s cauldron of moody lieutenants.
One day, as the rain poured outside his Lexington home, Lee got up from his armchair and put on his cloak as his daughter Mildred played the piano. She was paying Mendelssohn’s “Song Without Words” and as he readied to leave she played the doleful “Funeral March.” He kissed her and teased her for her morbid selection as he trudged off to a prayer service on campus. When he returned for dinner, he sat down at the table to say grace. No words came out. For more than a week the stroke-stricken Lee lay in bed as the rain continued to pour down. The tropical rains flooded Lexington as Lee was dying. “I am so weary,” he would barely mumble. Lee died just as the storm ceased and the October sun again shone. The Marble Man had outlasted the rains.
The great artist Edward Valentine lived into his nineties, dying on October 19, 1930. His greatest work was his marble rendition of Lee.
I personally have visited Lexington, Virginia and saw the memorial sarcophagus. I can say it really does look like Robert E. Lee is just a sleep. If you find the time I would highly recommend a visit to Lexington, VA to visit Washington and Lee Military College plus Lee's chapel. Down stairs of the chapel is Lee's office which hasn't been touched since he died. Everything was left as he left it. Lee's wife and family burial are there also. Right out side the doors where the Lee's family is buried is where Robert E. Lee's horse Traveller is buried. Pictures with in the chapel were not allowed so these to are the only ones I got.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Twilight of America’s Innocence
The actual beginning of the Civil War is debatable. Many argue that John Brown made war inevitable with his revolt on slaveholders. Others see Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860-based on an antislavery platform that exacerbated the long-festering strife between North and South-as the park. Most cite Fort Sumter as the flashpoint that started the war. The actual killing war began on the plains of Manassas along the banks of Bull Run Creek on July 21, 1861.
Nobody knew what to expect when several ill-equipped armies stumbled upon each other at Bull Run. Washington dignitaries rented carriages for $100 to spend that hot Sunday afternoon in the countryside watching the preparations for battle. Noted Civil War historian William C. Davis penned, “Bull Run marked the twilight of America’s Innocence.” After Bull Run, notions of a short, bloodless war were gone.
Numerous Civil War battles spawned wonderful anecdotes that provide glimpses into the simultaneous humor and horror of war. But Bull Run has more than most, probably because a heightened awareness among the participants.
Henry Hill was the focal point of the battle. Surrounded by the massive sprawl of Washington, DC, some 30 miles north, today this battlefield is constantly under threat of becoming an island of history amid a vast sea of strip malls, housing tracts, and asphalt plants.
The Stonewall Jackson monument is the most photographed monument of all Civil War battlefields. It depicts a Jackson with bulging muscles and of disproportionate size perched on a horse, making him look more like the Incredible Hulk than the short, puny general that he was. But it was here that Jackson, in the words of General Barnard Bee, “stood like a stonewall” and quipped, “we will give ‘em the bayonet!” Today, however, nobody knows if General Bee was being sarcastic about Jackson’s apparent lack of eagerness to join the fight or whether he was truly impressed with Jackson’s resolve when he uttered that phrase. Bee died shortly after making his infamous statement, so history will never know his intent, though conventional wisdom is that it was probably the former.
Bull Run not only attracted spectators, but it also launched the espionage by ordinary citizens. Especially in the South, citizens who had ties with the federal government but secretly wished success for the Confederate forces sought out Southern leaders to share “secrets” about the enemy’s actions. Especially prevalent in the spy network were a number of women who felt it was their duty to spy.
Confederate general Richard Ewell, one of the war’s most colorful leaders, was not in favor of women spies. As one heroine crossed over Bull Run on her horse amid cannon fire to provide intelligence, General Ewell was shocked at her brazen courage. “You’ll get killed,” he screamed at her. “You’ll be a dead damsel in less than a minute. Get away from here! Get Away!”
When she refused to leave, Ewell was astounded at her bravery. “Women,” he said to a fellow officer as the bullets were flying. “I tell you, women would make a grand brigade-if it were not for snakes and spiders! They don’t mind bullets, but one big snake would put the whole army to flight.”
Nobody knew what to expect when several ill-equipped armies stumbled upon each other at Bull Run. Washington dignitaries rented carriages for $100 to spend that hot Sunday afternoon in the countryside watching the preparations for battle. Noted Civil War historian William C. Davis penned, “Bull Run marked the twilight of America’s Innocence.” After Bull Run, notions of a short, bloodless war were gone.
Numerous Civil War battles spawned wonderful anecdotes that provide glimpses into the simultaneous humor and horror of war. But Bull Run has more than most, probably because a heightened awareness among the participants.
Henry Hill was the focal point of the battle. Surrounded by the massive sprawl of Washington, DC, some 30 miles north, today this battlefield is constantly under threat of becoming an island of history amid a vast sea of strip malls, housing tracts, and asphalt plants.
The Stonewall Jackson monument is the most photographed monument of all Civil War battlefields. It depicts a Jackson with bulging muscles and of disproportionate size perched on a horse, making him look more like the Incredible Hulk than the short, puny general that he was. But it was here that Jackson, in the words of General Barnard Bee, “stood like a stonewall” and quipped, “we will give ‘em the bayonet!” Today, however, nobody knows if General Bee was being sarcastic about Jackson’s apparent lack of eagerness to join the fight or whether he was truly impressed with Jackson’s resolve when he uttered that phrase. Bee died shortly after making his infamous statement, so history will never know his intent, though conventional wisdom is that it was probably the former.
Bull Run not only attracted spectators, but it also launched the espionage by ordinary citizens. Especially in the South, citizens who had ties with the federal government but secretly wished success for the Confederate forces sought out Southern leaders to share “secrets” about the enemy’s actions. Especially prevalent in the spy network were a number of women who felt it was their duty to spy.
Confederate general Richard Ewell, one of the war’s most colorful leaders, was not in favor of women spies. As one heroine crossed over Bull Run on her horse amid cannon fire to provide intelligence, General Ewell was shocked at her brazen courage. “You’ll get killed,” he screamed at her. “You’ll be a dead damsel in less than a minute. Get away from here! Get Away!”
When she refused to leave, Ewell was astounded at her bravery. “Women,” he said to a fellow officer as the bullets were flying. “I tell you, women would make a grand brigade-if it were not for snakes and spiders! They don’t mind bullets, but one big snake would put the whole army to flight.”
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Dead of Antietam
“Every blade of grass, every leaf, every stone here at Antietam has meaning. You can touch and you can feel it,” Antietam National Battlefield superintendent John Howard once told a group of Civil War enthusiasts who were visiting the Sharpsburg, Maryland site.
Antietam speaks to me like no other battlefield, whether I come as a student of history, a photographer, or a spiritual pilgrim. It is my favorite place on Earth and I am still searching for the reason this is so.
If you sit upon one of the snake rail fences that meander about the battlefield around the Sunken Road, with little trouble you can transport yourself back to that terrible September 17 in 1862, when two American armies killed each other from dawn to dusk. If you snap your fingers once every second for twelve hours, that would be how many Americans were killed or wounded that late summer day. Those deaths make this place haunting.
The Antietam battlefield is a small wedge of land that perfectly fits like a piece of jigsaw puzzle into the western Maryland landscape. My favorite place on the battlefield is the Dunker Church, a worship home to the pacifist sect of German Baptist Brethren who lived in this area at the time of the battle. Its simple design, whitewashed brick with no steeple, is unpretentious and humble.
Antietam is a Native American word that means “the swift current,” but it has come to mean so much more. Antietam was a true stalemate, but this battle changed the American landscape by setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation-Lincoln’s tool to crush the Southern economy. The words “Forever Free” had never been uttered in America to African-Americans before Antietam. Though all men were created equal, never had they lived equally. We still don’t. And so Antietam matters.
Mathew Brady and his legion of photographers came to Antietam just after the battle to shoot the battlefield. Never before had someone tried to make art out of death. When Brady opened his New York gallery with his exhibit, “The Dead of Antietam,” thousands lined up to see the powerful photos. “Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war,” a New York Times reporter wrote. “If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and our streets, he had done something very like it. But there is one side of the picture that…has escaped photographic skill. It is the background of windows and orphans…homes made desolate and the light of life in thousands of hearts has been quenched forever. All this desolation imagination must paint-broken hearts cannot be photographed.”
Battle of Antietam
Giclee Print
Jahn, E.
Buy at AllPosters.com
Antietam speaks to me like no other battlefield, whether I come as a student of history, a photographer, or a spiritual pilgrim. It is my favorite place on Earth and I am still searching for the reason this is so.
If you sit upon one of the snake rail fences that meander about the battlefield around the Sunken Road, with little trouble you can transport yourself back to that terrible September 17 in 1862, when two American armies killed each other from dawn to dusk. If you snap your fingers once every second for twelve hours, that would be how many Americans were killed or wounded that late summer day. Those deaths make this place haunting.
The Antietam battlefield is a small wedge of land that perfectly fits like a piece of jigsaw puzzle into the western Maryland landscape. My favorite place on the battlefield is the Dunker Church, a worship home to the pacifist sect of German Baptist Brethren who lived in this area at the time of the battle. Its simple design, whitewashed brick with no steeple, is unpretentious and humble.
Antietam is a Native American word that means “the swift current,” but it has come to mean so much more. Antietam was a true stalemate, but this battle changed the American landscape by setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation-Lincoln’s tool to crush the Southern economy. The words “Forever Free” had never been uttered in America to African-Americans before Antietam. Though all men were created equal, never had they lived equally. We still don’t. And so Antietam matters.
Mathew Brady and his legion of photographers came to Antietam just after the battle to shoot the battlefield. Never before had someone tried to make art out of death. When Brady opened his New York gallery with his exhibit, “The Dead of Antietam,” thousands lined up to see the powerful photos. “Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war,” a New York Times reporter wrote. “If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and our streets, he had done something very like it. But there is one side of the picture that…has escaped photographic skill. It is the background of windows and orphans…homes made desolate and the light of life in thousands of hearts has been quenched forever. All this desolation imagination must paint-broken hearts cannot be photographed.”
Battle of Antietam
Giclee Print
Jahn, E.
Buy at AllPosters.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)