Here we go Again!

It's seems only fitting and proper a begin this blog anew while I am at the Society for Military History Annual Conference, here in Kansas City, MO.  I try to attend this every year and it has never disappointed, this year is no exception.

Started last night with a wonderful reception at the WWI Museum.

 

Today, I attended four sessions .  The first, the most relevant to my Broomsticks to Battlefield Research:  Violence on the Civil War.  A bit of a misnomer, as the presenters spoke to Sherman's Bummers and the concept of cowards during the war.  Ann Sarah Rubin from the Univ. of Maryland presented a segment of her research entitled: A Delightful and Unmolested Trip across the Country.  Her research seems to indicate Sherman's Bummers were proud of the role they played in ending the war.  In addition, there was a distinct difference in how they treated the Southern civilian population.  If you left your property, accord to her, then the bummers felt all your goods were fair game.  If not, if you stayed then only those items of military significance were taken (horses, etc.).

The second: Battlefield Cowardice,Violence, and Memory in the ACW was given by Lesley J. Gordon from the University of Akron, was quite interesting considering use mentioned the 2nd Texas (see earlier posts and pictures). BANG!  Immediate connection.  One of my goals in the second edition, is to update my research concerning Robinett. She and I talked afterwards and will be talking some more in the coming month. 

Second session was Military Thought in the Napoleonic Era. Quite interesting.  The presenters all were well prepared and I came away thinking about the difference between doctrine and regulations and experience vs training.

The third session I attended was Other Fronts During WWI.  Good stuff: France in the Middle East, Riga.  Take aways?  The German Way of War, great staff work, that is mobile, flanking rapid warfare.  Joint Ops shone at Riga between air and land forces.  All good stuff.

Final sessions was interesting on a number of levels. The 7 member panel was from the Turkish Army war College and discussed the Battle of Gallipoli in WWI from the Ottoman Empire viewpoint (they won). 

All in all, a wonderful start to the conference. Can't wait for tomorrow!

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Society For Military History @ VMI

Well, here I am at VMI for the next few days.  I must admit I have a strange feeling here thanks to my very close contact with the Citadel.  I made a point not to bring any Citadel wear as I think that would be rude.

The campus is well done, the parade ground VERY large and nicely kept.  At the moment it is in much better shape that the parade deck at the 'del.  Not sure why as each are used for the whole year for training. 

I had a wonderful chat with the VMI Sergeant Major, Neel.  He is an 82nd Airborne guy and have been here for the last 10 years.  Great guy, great example of what the Army is. 

The conference, for me,  kicked off today with an interesting sessions on Logistics from the last 1700s to the Civil War.  Nicely done.

Then a session in the George C. Marshall Library on the Army in the Pacific during WWII.  It started with an informative overview of Army education in the inter-war years.  Then Pete Mansoor (some of you may know of him) spoke about the 1st Cavalry in the Pacific.  It was one of the premier divisions there.

In the afternoon, I attended a session chaired by Rob Citino  called: "What is Victory?"  All the presenters are from USMA and they provided a comprehensive picture of the difficultly of defining victory in the current war.

I finished my session day with a wonderful discussion of the Southern way of War.  I especially enjoyed Susannah Ural's paper on The Texas Brigade and the Lost Cause.

I also went to the VMI museum and the Washington & Lee chapel where Lee and all teh distinguished members of his family are buried, including Traveller!

I will be posting pictures on Facebook when I get back.  As an aside, I HATE typing on a lap top so apologies for the shorten comments.

Tomorrow it is off to the New Market battlefield where cadets from VMI played fought and died and played a pivotal role.,

New Orleans, Jackson Barracks, Chalmette Cemetery, and the National World War II Museum

My trip to New Orleans was extremely successful. LTC Tommy Ryan LA National Guard historian was my host on Friday and what a wonderful host he was. I meet him at Jackson Barracks and after explaining more about my project we went on a trip around the entire original Barracks. It was built in the 1830 and most of it still exists today, in spite of the years, urban growth, and Katrina.

I was able to walk where Robinette walked and see what he would have seen. As LTC Ryan said, “If a soldier from the 1830s was here today he would recognize the place and feel at home. The barracks themselves have been converted in individual quarters for some time and some are currently being restored. The original was is still in existence in some places and in others you can see it’s “shadow” on the buildings.

Orginal Wall-the wall was build originally in case of a slave insurrection.

CG quarters

Original side gate.

View of the Barracks

Parade Ground

Barracks-upstairs were the quarters, down, common room and mess hall

Barricks upstairs--the only stairs were on the outside.

Original fireplace with modifications.

Original wall and original French drains that still work as designed!

One of two surviving towers.

Original wall

1830s graffiti-Clavin Co C, 5th Inf

After a morning of touring the facility I picked up the flowers I ordered and went to the Chalmette Cemetery. The cemetery is closed due to reconstruction from Katrina but I was able to get in with an escort. They had cleaned the stone and the sun came up in time for me to get some great pictures. I said a prayer for him and all the soldiers buried there. I talked to him a biut, yeah I know, and promised him I would do everything in my power to tell his story and determine what led him to his untimely demise.

The Park Service decided NOT to place flags on the gravesites this year. They said since it was closed there was no need. I could not DISAGREE more. The flags were to honor the soldiers buried there NOT to the live but for the dead to be remembered. I thought it was a disgraceful thing to do.

That evening LTC Ryan invited me to dinner at the New Orleans Cooking Experience: http://www.neworleanscookingexperience.com/ It is located at The House on Bayou Road: http://www.houseonbayouroad.com/ The home was built as the main house to an indigo plantation just prior to the turn of the 19th century. This restful inn is just minutes from the French Quarter. The guest quarters are appointed with fine linens and elegant furnishings. The main house of this historic site was built in 1798 by physician/diplomat Domingo Fleitas. Coming originally from Tenerife in the Canary Island, Sr. Fleitas had his Indigo plantation's 'maison principal' built in the West Indies Creole style with wide galleries and many French doors opening onto flowering patios.

The chef for the evening was Janice “Boo” Macomber (macomberjanice@yahoo.com) and boy could she cook up a storm:
Boo’s Amuse Bouche (Aligator Suace Piquante)
Rosemary Shrimp
Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
Crawfish Stew & Crawfish Loaf on Dirty Rice
And for dessert: Bananas Foster.
What a wonderful experience. BTW, Boo has a recipe book for sale!

The next day I was up bright and early so I could go to the National World War II Museum: http://www.ddaymuseum.org/
My dad fought in WWII and my sister and I have a brick there in his name.
PY 305 is there as well. I helped work on her and her sister ship PT 309 while living in Houston. Unfortunately, funds do not allow for her restoration at this time. I just wish they would cover her up to protect her from the weather.

Well, that was my time in NO and off to Vicksburg for Sunday.

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HCR's Gravesite

I have been talking to LTC Tommy Ryan, Louisiana National Guard historian about my upcoming trip to New Orleans. He went to HCR’s gravesite and took these two pictures for me. I am looking forward to meeting with Tommy and checking out the Jackson Barracks in two weeks.

SMH Wrap UP

Well, I am back and settled into work and my research with a few minutes to reflect on the conference. I would highly recommend to everyone that you join associations related to your professions. They are a wonderful chance to connect, reconnect, and network within your field.

Some more thoughts on SMH

Reflection has its Cost

It is commander’s negligence if they do not insure that the history of their units is maintained. Without that history soldiers may have serious issues after their time in the service; medical history is one area that comes to mind.

I love one comment I heard, “It is heritage not hate.” You may have heard it as well. It seems in our politically correct world it is wrong to look back and try to preserve our history in difficult times. Please are renamed, areas destroyed, and memories altered in a sad and sick attempt to re-write history. Well, you simply cannot do that. What happened, happened. I had two occasions, for example, to speak to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Many of you will immediately react to that with “redneck”, “Klan”, or some other derogatory term. That is not the case in the least. The folks I have met are simply interested in preserving the memory of their ancestors and who does not wish to do that? My father was born in Ireland. Does that mean I should hate the English for the actions of the Duke of Orange for his actions in Ireland over 300 hundred year ago? That makes no sense to me. It seems to me that many people would like to hold people accountable for that actions of people long since dead. That is ludicrous!

I am always in a constant search for the precise, perfect title for my publications. I may have found one at SMH: "My Friend, The Enemy"; or "The Enemy is My Friend." Both fit these tow men very well. I have always envisioned “Broomsticks to Battlefields” to be a possible title for a broader study to follow. We will see. As a rule of thumb, students take note, I finalize my title after I have completed the final draft of my work. I always have two parts. An attention getting title with a subtitle firmly rooted in the topic. For example: “This Fierce Light of Battle: John bell Hood and his Wild Texans”.

Another thought from the conference. Do soldiers in the field shape policy from the field? I can think of examples from every war where this was the case. Can you?

Have you ever thought about the concept of death? I would suggest reading “Republic of Suffering” by Drew Gilpin Faust, current president of Harvard and an historian! It is a very interesting read. The Civil War death rate was six times that of World War II, when adjusted against the size of the American population, Faust points out. From the Preface: “Mortality defines the human condition. "We all have our dead—we all have our Graves," a Confederate Episcopal bishop observed in an 1862 sermon. Every era, he explained, must confront "like miseries"; every age must search for "like consolation." The way a people deals with death says a lot about them and their culture. Think of the current controversy over showing the return of our fallen soldiers to Dover, DE. It is well worth the read. During the 19th century people wanted a “good death”; I will leave you to discover what that meant. Today some scholars term 20th century death concepts death as wild. HCR committed suicide, not a “good” death. I must determine how his family and friend reacted to this.

On Civil War letters. We have really only ONE side of the story. We mostly have letters from the soldiers. The letters sent to them were mostly destroyed by the rigors of the field.

One final note I took. I simply must train myself to better remember names and dates. The recall of some of the folks I met is amazing. My former partner at JANUS, Jim Timmerman, has a phenomenal ability to remember names; far better than I can ever hope to be.

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Day 3 @ SMH

Are you familiar with the Staff Ride concept. If not, look here: http://www.fireleadership.gov/toolbox/staffride/downloads/the_staff_ride.pdf The author Dr. William Glenn Robertson was with us today as well as his Combat Studies Institute staff (http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CSI/ ). I have been on other staff rides with Glenn and in this setting they are a mix of staff ride and tour. I have also been on numerous other staff rides with Steve Rauch the Signal Center Command Historian. In my mind, middle/high school teachers could get so much more from their field trips if they followed the model. (If you happen to be a teacher let me know and I will assist you in designing and setting it up)



I am not going to go into the details of the ride other than to say it was about the Tullahoma Campaign of 1863, after Stones River (1862-3) and before Chickamauga (1863).

The question that comes to mind for historians and the general public I suspect (those that are interested) is, must one walk the field to really understand the battle/campaign? That has been debated by historians for a good while. There has been much criticism of those that do not walk the field yet still publish about the engagement(s).

Where do I fall out on this? I think it depends a good bit on the person. It involves, to me, right brain/left brain dominance, visual/tactical/passive learning, and the like. Me? I like to walk the field AFTER I have read/studied the engagement. I want to see the subtly of the terrain, the undulations in a field that might change line of sight and fire. I like to stand where the combatants stood and look as they did. I like to try and understand their decisions based upon what I see, just like they would have.

By the way, the Army has developed virtual staff rides for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Let’s see, what else did I pick up today?

Two very interesting papers in the same panel, both relating to my project.

The first concerned Western Virginia and the conflicts among its citizens. Robinett was born in Ohio County in what is now West Virginia. His family moved to Delaware while he was a child. Ohio County is in that little sliver sandwiched between Ohio and Pennsylvania. What would drive his family to move BACK east while most movement was west? The new B&O Railroad made it possible and indeed easy. But why did they did make the move? I need to find out.

There is much more to write and I will do so this evening.

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