VOLUME XXI APRIL 20, 2004 NO. 4
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www.chattanoogacwrt.org
APRIL ROUND TABLE MEETING
VISITORS & GUESTS WELCOME
DATE: TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2004 TIME: 7:00 PM
TOPIC:
"HEINRICH WIRZ: MURDERER OR MARTYR"
SPEAKER: DR. FRED RUHLMAN, HISTORIAN
PLACE: MILLIS-EVANS ROOM
CALDWELL HALL, ACADEMIC QUADRANGLE
THE MCCALLIE SCHOOL, HISTORIC MISSIONARY RIDGE
(Directions to Caldwell Hall-Enter the McCallie School campus off of
Dodds Avenue opposite the end of Bailey Avenue. Take the main drive into the
campus and follow the signs for the Academic Quadrangle. There is a parking
area there beside the Chapel and you will have passed Caldwell Hall on the
right as you approach the parking area. Find a place and park. Caldwell Hall
will be behind you as you park. Come in either the first or second floor
doors and follow the signs to the Millis-Evans Room.)
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APRIL MEETING
In a war full of death and horror and man's inhumanity toward man, the
experience at several of the more than 150 prisons seems to stand out even
more. That at Camp Sumter at Andersonville, Georgia, has come to stand out
even by itself, to represent the entire Civil War prison experience. In
fact, ask even folks who know something about the war where the Confederates
kept a Union soldier captured in battle even at the first part of the war and
they'll probably answer "Andersonville." But, even as bad as Andersonville
was, it might even be considered even worse when it is remembered that it
didn't open until February 1864, and was, to a large degree, closed by the
end of September 1864. Most of the horror that was Andersonville came in just
seven months and even most of that in just the five summer months.
In the end, the man who paid the price for the conditions at Anderson-
ville was the camp's commander for much of the time, Captain Hartmann Heinrich
"Henry" Wirz. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1823, Wirz's administration of
the prison became controversial, just as his execution after the close of the
war has become controversial -- murderer or martyr? That's the subject of our
talk this month. Our speaker, Round Table member Dr. Fred Ruhlman will discuss
Wirz's life and most specifically, the aspects that have left a varied percep-
tion of the man.
Fred Ruhlman is a seasoned historian who has turned his passion for
history into a career at a point when most individuals are considering
retirement and the rocking chair. Fred returned to the Hall of Ivey to pursue
a PH.D in American History after completing two careers, obtained that degree,
and submitted a book for publication in September 2003, Cornbread & Rancid
Bacon: A History of the Confederate Prison at Andersonville.
Fred spent twenty years as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and retired in 1990. He then started his own security company
and then sold that business endeavor to pursue his advanced education. He is
now serving as adjunct faculty teaching history at his alma mata, the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Fred and his wife Gwendolyn Giles
Ruhlman, have two daughters, each of whom are married with three children.
Fred and his wife live on Signal Mountain where they attend Signal Mountain
Bible Church and are active in community affairs.
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APRIL MEETING II
Remember, we are back to our NORMAL THIRD TUESDAY OF THE MONTH after
last month's meeting on an alternate night to accommodate our speaker's
schedule. We had fifty-five folks out for the March meeting. I hope you
were one of them. Dr. Robertson did a great job as usual and his talk on
Longstreet was thought provoking.
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SPEAKER'S FUND SUPPORT OF THE MONTH
There are four items this month. The first item is a copy of a bio-
graphy of another one of the key figures in the story of the Confederate
prisoner of war system, Arch Blakey's General John H. Winder, C. S. A..
The second item is a copy of the published version of the diary of one of
the Union soldiers who did survive Andersonville, Ira S. Pettit, 11th
U. S. Infantry, published as The Diary of a Dead Man. The third item
is another frame miniature of a Mort Kunstler print, this one "The Return
of Stuart." The fourth item is five of the six 1997 issues of the magazine
Civil War. They include such articles as "The Vicksburg Campaign"
by Ed Bearss, one on the Pennsylvania Bucktails, "The Amazing John B. Gordon,"
and "Civil War Wounds: History's Worst?" The third and fourth items were
donated to the Round Table by members for the benefit of the Speaker's Fund
and to those doners go our thanks. Proceeds from the Speaker's Fund go
toward bringing speakers in from outside the area. Your support of the
Speaker's Fund is appreciated.
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FUTURE ROUND TABLE MEETINGS
May 18, 2004 - Dr. Philip L. Secrist, "The Battle of Resaca"
June 15, 2004 - John Evans, "Bishop-General Leonidas Polk: His Death &
Commemoration," see Mr. Evans's website, www.leonidaspolk.org
July 20, 2004 - "The Battle of LaFayette," Field Trip and Off-site Meeting,
Walker County Historical Society's Marsh-Warthen House, LaFayette, Georgia;
we'll arrange a car-pool convoy for this special trip to learn about one of
the smaller local battles from 140 years ago; more details later.
August 17, 2004 -
September 21, 2004 -
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UP-COMING LOCAL CIVIL WAR EVENTS OF NOTE
May 8, 2004 - "Bragg Lies in Wait" a bus tour of Confederate movements
leading up to the Battle of Chickamauga, September 6 to 18, 1863, sponsored
by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, tour
led by Jim Ogden, fee, more details next month.
May 31, 2004 -- Memorial Day evening Torch Light Tour of the Chattanooga
National Cemetery, led by Jim Ogden, this year focusing on the Atlanta
Campaign as reflected by graves in the cemetery, 8:30 P.M., more details
later.
October 16, 2004--Bus tour of Hood's North Georgia Campaign, October 1864,
sponsored by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park,
more details later.
November 11-13, 2004--12th Annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press,
the Civil War, and Free Expression, sponsored by the University of Tennessee
at Chattanooga's Department of Communications, more details later.
February 5-6, 2005--Northwest Georgia Trade & Convention Center, I-75 Exit 333,
Walnut Avenue, Dalton, Georgia, 9-5 Saturday, 9-3 Sunday; more details later.
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Andersonville, Gerogia, and Andersonville Prison, 1864-1865. Adapted from a map by blake A. Magner
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[The following was a separate insert inside the April 2004 issue:]
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[END OF APRIL 2004 ISSUE]
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