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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Book Talk > Review It! > What are you reading these days? |
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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Book Talk > Review It! > What are you reading these days? |
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| What are you reading these days? | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 05:05 pm |
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21st Post |
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calcav Member
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Patty, It gets even better. The house I am in was used by Beauregard up to the Battle of Shiloh, by Breckenridge during the Siege of Corinth and by Rosecrans during the Battle of Corinth. Tom
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 09:39 pm |
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22nd Post |
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Widow Member
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Tom, I can't stand it. Quitcher braggin' and just tell me you live in a regular house. Me and my mules, horses, and sinks. On the other hand, I have AC and a balcony. So there! I can't play one-up with you. The best I can come up with is that in Laramie, our house was on Ord Street. Some of the streets were named for Union generals who served in the West after the war. Fetterman, Russell (who's he?), Ord, Steele, Sheridan, Custer, Kearny (Stephen), Garfield, Harney, Lewis, Clark. Oh, wait. Laramie was founded in 1867 with the construction of the Union Pacific, so no Civil War houses there. I bet that now and then, one of your generals talks to you and tells you all the nasty gossip about the others. What egos they had! Patty
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 09:51 pm |
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23rd Post |
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calcav Member
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Ord? Edward O. C. Ord? He stayed in the house across the street. 
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 10:16 pm |
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24th Post |
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Widow Member
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You're killing me, Tom. You win. I give up. And again, I marvel at all that history in your very own living room. How cool. Yes, the general Ord with the beautiful wife whose horsemanship made Mary Lincoln jealous. Rawlins, Wyoming, was named after which Union officer? It was a coal-mining town to fuel the steam locomotives on the UP main line. Gen. Grenville Dodge, the man who built the Union Pacific, named the new town of Laramie for a French fur trapper, Jacques de la Ramie. He was killed by Indians, according to local legend. Also Laramie Peak, the Laramie Mountains, the Big and Little Laramie Rivers, the Laramie Plains, Laramie County, Fort Laramie, and the City of Laramie. Not bad for a nobody. I must add that the Big Laramie River is about as wide as a three-lane street, and maybe three feet deep, except during the spring runoff. It was the biggest river I ever saw until I came east and saw the Potomac. Heck, it's narrower than Bull Run or Antietam Creek. No grand battles in the sagebrush. Patty
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 10:23 pm |
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25th Post |
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calcav Member
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I'm really not just making this up. Dodge stayed in the house across the street too (as did Bragg and Hood). Dodge used as his HQ for the end of 62 and part of 63. This sure beats my last neighborhood. At the park our house was on the spot used as a camp by Welker's Battery H, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. If there's not a historic marker in the front yard i don't want it. 
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 10:40 pm |
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26th Post |
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Widow Member
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Tom, A historic marker in your front yard. Sheesh, what an exclusive neighborhood. We had a scraggly little Chinese elm tree in our front yard. Then we moved to a ski area and had ski runs in our back yard. How's about them apples? Now you still haven't identified the man for whom Rawlins was named. And I mean first name, rank, position, and hometown. So do your homework, my friend, and remember, you'll be graded on neatness and spelling. Patty (I gotta get him on something. Generals in the kitchen, for pete's sake!)
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 10:43 pm |
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27th Post |
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calcav Member
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Haven't done my research but my first guess would be Grant's Chief of Staff, General John Rawlins. How'd I do?
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 10:56 pm |
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28th Post |
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calcav Member
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I guess I was right. http://www.rawlins-wyoming.com/
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| Posted: Fri Dec 1st, 2006 10:58 pm |
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29th Post |
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Widow Member
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You did just fine. One point off for not getting his hometown of Galena, Illinois. He and Ol' Sam were hometown buddies, I guess. What a great honor to have a dinky, sooty, cindery, ashy, windy, dusty, coal town named after you. Rawlins ain't exactly the garden spot of the Cowboy State. But then neither is Laramie. Not sure there ARE any garden spots. That means green grass and plenty of water, doesn't it? Well, there are still more antelope than people. And probably more mule deer than antelope. And probably more coyotes than mule deer. And way more giant western man-eating mosquitoes than coyotes. The folks in Corinth must have wondered about all their transient neighbors, sort of like wandering hoboes or carnival people. Some people just can't stay put and settle down. Shiftless bunch, those Civil War generals. Still, they had stars on their shoulder straps, so I guess they weren't all no-accounts. Patty
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| Posted: Sat Dec 2nd, 2006 08:05 am |
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30th Post |
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susansweet Member 
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Patty and Tom General Ord's grandson (or great grandson not sure) is a member of our Cvil War Round Table here in Huntington Beach. He lives in Fountain Valley. For reenactments here in California he reenacts his grandfather. We all call him General Ord . Interesting man. He has a cane that belonged to the other General Ord and I believe his sword. The closest I come to a Civil War site is every Wednesday and Tomorrow when I go down to Wilmington to the Drum Barracks and work in the junior oficers quarters . The only wooden building left of the Civil War 60 acre military site. The home of the Camels . We are having our Christmas open house along with the Banning House down the street tomorrow and Sunday. The 116th Pennsylvani Company D and The Berdan Sharpshooters will set up encampment on the lawn. The Sanitary Commission will be there Sunday and Mrs. Thaddeus Lowe will share information on her husbands balloon corps. A horse drawn red trolly will take visitors between the two sites We will also will have period music in the parlor . Wish you all could come visit . Susan
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| Posted: Sat Dec 2nd, 2006 01:05 pm |
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31st Post |
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Widow Member
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Susan, what a wonderful weekend event. Sounds like lots of people have put in a lot of work to make it successful. Let's hope for good weather and a big turnout. Please tell us more about the Drum Barracks. I've never heard of it. I guess it was a Federal army post, hm? Boy, would I love to talk to Mrs. Thaddeus Lowe! She must have been the long-suffering wife of the inventor-gadgeteer-pioneer. He wasn't home very much during his two years with the Army of the Potomac, so she was probably a temporary war widow like so many others. Tell General Ord that he's famous because he has a Laramie street named for him. I never knew that Ord Street was named for anybody until I "enlisted" in the Civil War in August 2005. That's a long time to be ignorant about my very own street. Let us know about the big living-history event. Berdan's sharpshooters, trolley, gosh, what fun! Patty
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| Posted: Sat Dec 2nd, 2006 03:53 pm |
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32nd Post |
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calcav Member
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Sunsan, Several members of Berdan's Sharpshoters were here this week. They have been traveling to different CW sites prior to the big Mid-South Civil War Show in Nashville this weekend. I hereby promise that on my next trip to the Golden State I'm coming by the Barracks. Been wanting to for years. Tom
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| Posted: Mon Dec 4th, 2006 03:08 pm |
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33rd Post |
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David White Member 
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Susan: Make sure you start calling the Ord descendant "Your majesty" it was rumored that he is the grandson of George IV of England. See: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ecoord.htm
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| Posted: Mon Dec 4th, 2006 03:47 pm |
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34th Post |
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susansweet Member
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Tom and Patty, we had over 1,000 people come though the Drum this week end to see our reenactors and visit the decorated rooms of the Barracks. I think I must have greeted them all in the library. The whole week end was a huge success. One of the reenactors had a dvd of Moorpark reenactment from last month . He put it on our dvd player in the library. I had it on continuous play all week end. Little kids would come in and sit right down on the floor to watch. The funniest was the reenactors coming in and trying to find themselves in the dvd. We even made the paper although they got the name of the Museum wrong . Oh and by the way we had new t shirts and totebags with a member of the camel corps on them . Soldier on top of a camel . They sold quite well. We also sold several autographed copies of two of our members books Dave Shultz The Battle Between the Farm Lanes HancockSaves the Union Center Gettysburg, July 2, 1863 and a self published book by one of our docents David Bean Beyond the Battles : Drama and Heartbreak during the Civil War . This book is mainly about the killing of John Rains a leading figure in the Los Angeles area during the early years. We all I think had a good time.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 4th, 2006 04:00 pm |
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35th Post |
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Widow Member
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Susan, congratulations on a successful campaign. Your after-action report covered the most important points: the kids had a good time, and so did your friends who worked so hard. Hah! The reenactors trying to find themselves in the DVD movie. Naturally they won't recognize the guy with the paunch, double chin, pony tail and ear studs. They'll say, "Lookee there, that one's me." And it's a handsome dude, nice and trim in a spiffy uniform. Mm-hm. Gettysburg reenactors who were in Pickett's Charge couldn't find themselves either. There were 10,000 or so, stretched out in those long assault formations. No pony tails there. Patty
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| Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 01:39 am |
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36th Post |
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Fuller E Pluribus Unum 
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Patty, Ouch. Those were some pretty harsh words about my beloved Wyoming. I will concur that there are some cities there that would be considered "The Armpit of the World" in Frommers guides. Let me help the travel indusrty out and remind my friends there are "garden spots" in Wyoming. Ever hear of the place Jackson Hole? How bout Yellowstone? Crow Heart Mountain ring a bell? I've dipped my feet in Jenny Lake and watched a grand moose do the same about 50 yards from me. "More antelope than people?" When I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic...antelope sound real good. Fuller
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| Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 03:51 am |
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37th Post |
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Widow Member
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Fuller, Yes, Jenny Lake, and Leigh Lake at the very foot of Mount Moran. I think I saw the same cow moose that you did. In 1964, that is. Dad and I went canoe camping on Leigh Lake, then up to West Thumb in on Yellowstone Lake for 3 days of trout fishing. There are many beautiful places in Wyoming - heck, all of Wyoming is beautiful, in my eyes as well as yours. But they're not garden spots with lots of lush green grass and full trees. Most places it's hard even to grow flowers, what with the wind and short season. I left Wyoming because there was no future for me there - international affairs. My brother did too. Not because we didn't like it, but our careers were elsewhere. We still love our home state and are grateful we had a chance to grow up there. Patty
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| Posted: Wed Dec 6th, 2006 04:26 am |
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38th Post |
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Fuller E Pluribus Unum
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Patty, You know I still dig you even if you rip on my state . Well I can't really call it my state anymore. I don't live there anymore either. I once lived in an "armpit" area of the state. In the winter it was 70 below with the wind chill factor. No thanks. How bout the "Garden Island" of Kauai. Ahhhh.... Fuller
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| Posted: Fri Dec 8th, 2006 01:49 am |
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39th Post |
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amhistoryguy Member 
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Hello everyone, I've been spending time with the "First Lady of the Confederacy, Varina Davis's Civil War," by Joan E. Cashin. I must say, that although prior to reading this work, while I didn't have negative feelings towards Mrs. Davis, I wasn't much of a fan either. Now, I don't mind saying, I'm a Varina Davis admirer. A woman way ahead of her time, presented by Joan Cashin in a very well researched (with end notes) book that was entertaining as well as informative. More than once Ms. Cashin had me laughing out loud, and other times I had to take a break from reading in order to contemplate the weight of Varina's place in history. I never expected to enjoy this work so much. I picked it up thinking that it might be worthwhile learning a thing or two about Varina Davis, and came away an admirer, wanting to learn more about this incredible person who was the First Lady of the Confederacy. I highly recommend this one ! Regards, Dave Gorski
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| Posted: Fri Dec 8th, 2006 02:26 am |
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40th Post |
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susansweet Member
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Dave thank you so much for your review of the Varina Davis book. I had convinced my Civil War reading discussion group to read this book in February. My copy just came in the mail It looks good and the preview review I read was good, but nice to hear from someone who is a "reader" on their opinion. I am so looking forward to this book. This month we take a break and do "Civil War Movies" Amazing how we can stretch that term. My movie this month is a 1969 made for tv movie called Journey to Shiloh. The story line is stretched a bit but the cast is a young set of later well known actors mixed with some Child stars on the down slide. The story is based on a Will James Novel. I do so love the movie though I taped it off the tv years ago.
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