Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Civil War Union Seventh West Virg

In 2008, mark served as the visiting senior lecturer of war studies at the Royal Military academy at sandhurst in the united kingdom. He is the author of eight books and he currently has two other books in the works. His presentation today is taken from his most recent work, the seventh West Virginia industry. It is coauthored. [applause] mark thank you. Before i give my presentation, i want to give you a little background about the seventh virginia infantry regiment. That is how it started out. It was recruited in the summer and fall of 1861, primarily from the North Central part of West Virginia. Let me bring up a map. Primarily from northcentral West Virginia, and also Monroe County, ohio and ring county, pennsylvania. Greene county is here, Monroe County is here. The recruiting area is basically this area, plus a little bit of Greene County and Monroe County, ohio. Their initial service was about 50 miles west of winchester, virginia. Most of their Early Service was in the lower part of the Shenandoah Valley. They fought in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862. They gave themselves the nickname the bloody seventh after the relatively bloodless romney campaign, only a handful of casualties. Unfortunately for them, that nickname would become prophetic. They were transferred to the army of the potomac second corps in july of 1862. They participated in all of the army of the potomacs major campaigns in the eastern theater, from the Maryland Campaign through appomattox. They suffered or than 45 casualties during their first really big battle, the battle of antietam. Primarily from the sunken road on the roulette farm called the bloody lane. At gettysburg, they were assigned to samuel carols brigade, sometimes known as the gibraltar brigade. The charge of the louisiana tigers, at this battle, three days cost them a lot of casualties in they went from regimental strength to battalion sized strength. The survivors of the battalion who reenlisted in 1864 became members of the seventh West Virginia veteran volunteers. West virginia becomes a state of the union, june 20, 1863. They officially begin calling themselves the seventh West Virginia at that point. Prior to that, they were unofficially calling themselves the seventh West Virginia. The West Virginia veterans who returned to the new Mountain State came home to a new State Government only to see that government return to the hands of exconfederates after 1872. Even though the regiments bloodiest battle was at antietam, the veterans chose to put their monument in gettysburg. With that background, let me begin. The war is over. Robert e lee and his army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. The army of tennessee with jo johnson in command capitulated on april 20, along with the remaining confederate troops in the carolinas, georgia, and sort florida. A few days later, Nathan Bedford forrest gave up in alabama. Kirby smiths army of the transmississippi, the last major confederate force in the field, surrendered on may 26. In indian territory, now oklahoma, Brigadier General stan walkie and his native american confederates in the field, kept them in the field for nearly a month after smith gave up the transmississippi army. On june 24, june 24, he acknowledged feet and surrendered. Except for a lone raider out of contact with the world, the conflict had come to an end and the armed forces of the confederacy had been disbanded. By late june, the same could be said of the huge volunteer force that had once been the union army. What remained of the proud army of the potomac was prepared to go home, including the seventh West Virginia regiment. By now, it was a battalion down to 570 soldiers. 24 commissioned officers, and 431 men present, two officers and 101 men absent. On july 1, southwest of arlington, virginia, the seventh West Virginia infantry was mustered out of the federal service. Only 127 of the men were veteran volunteers from 1528 overall and most men overall enlistments. After, the battalion under francis baldwin, rode the train to wheeling, arriving the morning of july 5. They camped on Wheeling Island in the ohio river, where they anxiously awaited to be paid off and mustered out of the West Virginia service. Three days later, a thankful city gave a celebratory dinner to honor the men. The towns ladies provided an abundance of food on well spread tables. Announcing the gala, the wheeling daily intelligence newspaper reported, the old seventh is a tried and gallant regiment and has participated in more hardfought battles than any other regiment which West Virginia has sent to the field. This is probably the last entertainment for some time to come, let it be the best that can be provided. The brave boys will be leaving for home this evening. They will be joyfully received by their waiting friends. The governor offered his welcome and thanks, to which the seventh commanding officer, former commanding officer, jonathan lockwood, responded. The men cheered, frolics, eight, and drink to their hearts content. After dinner, the final farewell was at hand. With the hallowed regimental colors turned over to the governor, the seventh disbanded. Veterans of the seventh who resided in wheeling before the war might have picked up a copy of the daily intelligencer and found an advertisement on page four promoting the sale of prosthetic devices and crutches, claiming they were a great improvement. Three Army Surgeons testified to the artificial limbs, sound construction and monetary value. A one legged pennsylvania veteran a valid, i cheerfully recommend to all of you who unfortunate to need one to give him a call. Private swayze chris of company b might have been one of the early customers, having had his right leg removed more than a year earlier as a result of a gunshot wound sustained during a fight. 19 when he enlisted in 1864, the 58 blueeyed, black haired farmer was an Army Hospitals until his eventual discharge in 1865. Assuredly he was in need of a pair of crutches and an artificial leg. He was one casualty lucky enough to recover from his amputation and return home. Many more of his comrades were killed outright, died of their wounds, or succumbed to disease or accidents, or as prisoners of war. A celebrated nurse, clara barton, who attended to the wounded and would found the red cross in 1881, set up a missing Soldiers Office near the capital in washington, d. C. On june 20 8, 18 65, the intelligencer reported that clara barton of Washington City publishes a role of missing men as far as they have been reported, and provided a list of men unaccounted for. One of the missing on the list was Corporal William e carruthers of seven company a, who unbeknownst to ms. Barton and her clerks had died of chronic dire area died of chronic illness. The 577 survivors of the West Virginia seventh volunteers who received honorable or medical discharges began to make their way home. The seventh veterans who claimed pennsylvania or ohio as their domicile returned to areas largely unaffected by war, but the men who resided in western virginia came home to a new state with a new seat of government, and in a few years, a rapidly changing economy. One that would shift primarily from subsistence farming to attractive industries, particularly timber and coal. Not every West Virginia would engage in farming, logging, or mining. Cities like parkersburg, moundsville, morgantown, and charleston would become centers of industry, trade, government or higher education. Wheeling, for now the state capital, thrived during the war not only because it was the seat of government for the new state, but also because it had been a bustling army camp and its existing industries likewise benefited from wartime contracts. Now the governor and the West Virginia legislature would have to leave the Mountain State in a postwar world. As the years and decades past, the seven survivors formed a Veterans Association, with Members Meeting from time to time for annual gettogethers, sometimes part of larger state or National Meetings of the Union Army Veterans organization, the grand army of the republic. Soon after, the legislation that created Gettysburg National Military Park was signed into law in 1885, the secretary of the seventh Monument Committee who had survived the battle of the but was medically discharged, received a letter from the Gettysburg National Park Commission granting permission to proceed on the erect and of a regimental monument on the new park. The seventh Veterans Group and West Virginia gar post were instrumental in lobbying state legislature to appropriate funds to mark the positions of the West Virginia units that fought at gettysburg and vicksburg. In february, 1898, two months before the United States declared war on spain, john gene kelly, the sevenths first kernel, asked for maps showing the proposed location of the monuments. Kelly had been appointed by the West Virginia governor to oversee the placement and dedication of the seventh memorial. As well as those of other West Virginia monuments to the first, third cavalry, and first West Virginia artillery. Of the four memorials, three are small and plain looking, while at seventh is the most ornate. But even the seventh is monday and. Is rather mundane. A typical, offtheshelf, standing soldier statue of the type that was massproduced in the postwar era. Depicted in his winter overcoat and facing eastward in the direction of the july 2 attack by the louisiana tigers, the stone sentinel looks more like he was fighting the winter battle of fredericksburg rather than the midsummer fight. The part of the seventh monument funded by the West Virginia legislature served as the base of the memorial, while at the seventh Veterans Association paid for the soldier. The second West Virginia infantry regiment, National Guard unit activated during the shortlived war with spain, was tasked to support the dedication ceremony. The brevity of the conflict prevented the second West Virginia from deploying to puerto rico, cuba, or the philippines. It spent most of its active service in nearby middletown, pennsylvania, near harrisburg. They left camp, several hundred men along with baggage laden wagons and ambulances, marched from middletown to gettysburg, more than 50 miles. They reach their campground along Seminary Ridge on september 25, three days before the scheduled ceremony. The West Virginians were greeted at the outskirts of gettysburg by the local company of the pennsylvania National Guard. The Seminary Ridge campsite was dubbed camp snyder in honor of joseph snyder, the sevenths second regimental commander. Several prominent West Virginia is including the governor were scheduled to attend the ceremony. In addition, colonel theodore f lange, formally of the West Virginia calvary and author of loyal West Virginia, one of the earliest accounts of the West Virginia statehood, came to the ceremony, and even some of the states confederate veterans would participate. Keep in mind that West Virginia is the most divided state during the civil war. More than maryland, more than missouri or even kentucky. Roughly the same number of men, 20,000 to 22,000, served on either side during the war. The master of ceremonies was professor thomas c miller, principal of the Preparatory Department of West Virginia university and a veteran of the seventh West Virginia infantry, having enlisted late in the war on april 1, 1865. Miller served for three months before his muster out in july. 20 years after the ceremony in 1918, miller became the president of schappert state normal school, now shepherd what university in shepherdstown, West Virginia. The first administrator of the school was a veteran of the confederate stonewall brigade. The ceremony began at 11 00 a. M. On september 28, 1898, with the parade to commence on chambersburg street at the hotel. Company m of the second West Virginia was in the van, followed by the four West Virginia units that carried the tattered that all flags of the first and third cavalry and the seventh infantry. After them, the governor and his acting general, and Staff Officers of the West Virginia National Guard worse proceeded on foot. Appleton was a twice wounded civil war veteran, having commanded a company in the celebrated lack regiment, the 54th massachusetts colored infantry. Governor atkinson was also accompanied by the pennsylvania governor, daniel hastings. A reporter from one of the newspapers in town effusively opined, the remarkable sight of two governors with staff and full uniform marching on foot in procession was a thing never witnessed before in gettysburg and could only have taken place in a free country like ours. I guess he had forgotten that 35 years earlier, something really important had happened here. Next in the parade became the second West Virginia band and the rest of the regiment. The procession halted on East Cemetery hill, stradling and baltimore street, across from the Soldiers National cemetery. After the neighbors of the official party had taken their places, the band played america, and a reverend from West Virginia gave a brief invocation. Before professor miller introduced governor atkinson, he pointed out that in the audience was a young, blue clad lieutenant in the second West Virginia whose father, a former confederate, also was in attendance. Atkinson arose and said, my countrymen, we come today to pay homage to the heroes and West Virginia. The Mountain States chief executive continued, in the city are the dead under the shadows of trees where shot and shell rained like hail. We now consecrate these monuments to the memories of those whose bones are quietly reposing beneath the sward, upon which the feet of living, loving friends are now standing. No granite or tomb of ancient or modern splendor, and no play of genius immortal can adorn the memories of the soldiers who sleep upon the slopes of gettysburg. Their deeds are there monuments, which will keep their names enshrined in the hearts of patriotic men and women. This flowery address continued for about 10 more paragraphs and included several verses of a reconciliation or a poem that for atkinson recited those lines, exclaimed, all honor to the south as well as the north. In the wake of the spanishamerican war, when exconfederates held important ranks in the army, atkinsons proclamation of reconciliation was heard by the white audience. Lost was the comprehension that reconciliation came with a skewed memory of the primary cause of the civil war. General appleton took to the dais next and recounted the military operations that were at gettysburg, including the seventh. The infantry comprised seventh West Virginia volunteers, regiment whose proud banner, although covered with inscriptions, is not large enough to contain the names of all of the battles in which it was engaged. Eventually, john g kelley, chairman of the veteran core of the seventh, addressed the audience and introduce his young daughter, anna, who unveiled the seventh memorial, revealing the inscription here. Anybody want to read this inscription and give me a break . Thank you. Loud enough so the cameras can hear you. [indiscernible] on arriving there, we found the battery about to be taken ch