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January 2009 CANISTER Newsletter Website Version of Our Monthly Newsletter |
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January 2009 CANISTER Newsletter Website Version of Our Monthly Newsletter |
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CANISTER From The Chattanooga Civil War Round Table www.chattanoogacwrt.org |
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| VOLUME XXV1 | JANUARY 20, 2009 | NO. 1 |
VISITORS AND GUESTS WELCOME |
| DATE: | TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2009 | TIME: 7 PM |
| TOPIC: |
“THE UNION NAVY’S URIAH PHILLIPS LEVY”
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| SPEAKER: | MEL YOUNG, HISTORIAN & AUTHOR |
| 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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| JANUARY MEETING |
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The advent of the Civil War and the scope of the crisis left the existing military institutions in a
pinch. There were too many demands and too few men and too little material. This certainly was the case
for the Navy of the United States. But, the war also gave some new opportunities. One, was Commodore
Uriah Phillips Levy. Essentially retired, Levy had had a long career in the U. S. Navy in the decades before
the Civil War and had had a great deal of experience with the Naval justice system, helping to end the
practice of flogging and personally experiencing Courts of Inquiry. With the beginning of the war, Lincoln
had Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles recall the Commodore to duty and assign him to Naval Courts
Martial Board in Washington. While his tenure in that role would be relatively brief, his experience is yet
another illustration of how our nation mobilized for war. In his talk this evening, Accountant, Historian,
and Author Mel Young will look at Levy's career and relate the subject of his just published book, URIAH - Uriah
Phillips Levy, Captain, USN, and the Naval Court of Inquiry. We'll also hear about Levy's key role
in saving for us today Thomas Jefferson's famous mountain top home Monticello. Mel has previously spoken to the Round Table on the subjects of his earlier books which include Where They Lie: The Story of the Jewish Soldiers of the North and South Whose Deaths - Killed, Mortally Wounded or Died of Disease or Other Causes - Occurred During the Civil War and Last Order of the Lost Cause: The True Story of a Jewish Family in the "Old South:" Raphael Jacob Moses, Major, C. S. A., 1812 - 1893. Mel is an accountant here in Chattanooga. |
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SPEAKER'S FUND SUPPORT OF THE MONTH There are four items this month for the Speaker’s Fund. The first is a copy of our speaker’s book URIAH - Uriah Phillips Levy, Captain, USN, and the Naval Court of Inquiry. The second item is a copy of Volume 4 of Douglas Southall Freeman’s four volume Lee biography, R. E. Lee since this month is the anniversary of his birth. The third item is two issues of The Skirmish Line, the magazine of the North-South Skirmish Association; articles include one comparing the Confederate Gardner minie ball and the Harpers Ferry/Burton ball, the two most common Civil War minies and one on the .36 cal. Savage revolver and one on battlefield restoration at Gettysburg. The fourth item is a copy of the audio tour of the Battle of Lynchburg, Virginia. Three of the four items this month were donated to the Round Table to support the Speaker’s Fund. To those donors 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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LULA LAKE Are you familiar with Lula Lake on Lookout Mountain? Even if you think you aren’t, you might have seen a little about it with out knowing it. It is a part of one of the natural water systems on the top of Lookout Mountain and is a number of miles south of the Point in Georgia. It is essentially on the top of the mountain above Flinstone, Georgia. Like some of the caves on the mountain, and the Point, and the unique geologic features at what is now Rock City, Lula Lake and Lula Falls was a popular tourist attraction on the mountain at the time of the Civil War. Lots of soldiers visited there. There are even quite a few photographs of Union soldiers taken there and also some of the falls and lake themselves. Some of these images appear in some of the photographic histories of the war; that’s why you might have seen something about Lula Lake but not really realize it. Today, Lula Lake is protected by the Lula Lake Land Trust. It is open to the public periodically, frequently on the first and last Saturday of the month. One of the open dates is coming up on January 31, 9-5 PM. It is a pretty place and when you know of the pictures, it is quite neat to go there yourself and see the falls and lake and rocks in person. To get there from Chattanooga, allow about 25 minutes, taking Tenn. Hwy. 58 South through St. Elmo and up onto Lookout Mountain to a T-intersection with Lula Lake Road. Turn left (south) and go 4.5 miles to the gravel drive entrance (normally) marked on the left. Look for the signs. Follow the gravel drive to an area marked for parking. |
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SCOUTS REPORTS! There were a couple WBTS related programs in the last month here locally and in the region. Did anyone go down to Columbus for the Port Columbus Civil War Naval Museum Civil War Naval History Symposium on the 9th & 10th? I know at least a couple of folks made it to the presentation on the 13th by Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, at UTC. There was a huge crowd so a lot more Round Table folks could have been there and I easily miss seeing them. If you were able to attend any of these events or another one of note since our last meeting and you’re at our January meeting, give us a report. Good intelligence is one of the keys to military success! |
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STRINGER'S RIDGE PRESERVATION EFFORT Almost certainly, you've seen in the paper or on the news or heard on the radio that The Trust For Public Land (TPL; www.tpl.org, 202 Tremont Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37405; 423-265-5229) has put together a deal to purchase and preserve the 92-acre tract of land on Stringer's Ridge that late last year and early this year was being considered for a high-rise condo development. These hill tops are the backdrop to downtown Chattanooga when viewed from downtown northward and are some of the ones occupied by Union soldiers in June of 1862 and August of 1863 in their first direct attacks on the "Gateway to the Deep South." The view from some of them is quite enlightening and instructive. TPL has and is putting together a coalition of community and conservation agencies, activities, groups, and individuals to make the purchase possible. Part of their effort is a grass roots appeal. They would love donations small or large to help show the public support for the project. There will be more information on this effort available at the meeting. |
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FUTURE ROUND TABLE MEETINGS
February 17, 2009 - To be announced. |
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UP-COMING LOCAL CIVIL WAR EVENTS OF NOTE NEW ENTRIES:
February 28, 2009 - UP-DATED--"Hoofbeats in the Heartland: Civil War Cavalry
in Tennessee" Seminar, East Tennessee Historical Society's Museum of East Tennessee History, Knoxville; speakers
include Dr. Earl J. Hess, “Civil War Cavalry in the West,” Dr. William Garrett Piston on "A Family Affair: The
Carter Brothers and Their Raid on East Tennessee, December, 1862 - January, 1863, Tennessee State Representative
Steve McDaniel on "Forrest's 1862 West Tennessee Raid and the Preservation of the Parker's Crossroads Battlefield,
Dot Kelly on "The Yankees Pay a Visit to Knoxville: Sander's 1863 East Tennessee Raid, and Jim Ogden on "'...break
up all his lines of communication and retreat...:' Fighting Joe Wheeler's October, 1863, Raid. The Seminar is in
conjunction with the opening at the Museum of East Tennessee History of the Tennessee State Museum special exhibit
"Hoofbeats in the Heartland: Civil War Cavalry in Tennessee." For the exhibit's presence in Knoxville, new panels
on the cavalry in East Tennessee have been added as well as some new artifacts. PREVIOUS ENTRIES:
March 12-14, 2009 - 17th Annual Civil War Fortification Study Group Annual Meeting, this year at
Cumberland Gap, Middlesboro, Kentucky, with field trips to explore the Civil War field fortifications in and around
Cumberland Gap and in the area of the Mill Springs Battlefield nearby in Kentucky. For more information,
see http://www.cwfsg.org/ or write Stacy D. Allen, President,
Civil War Fortification Study Group, 290 Residence Circle,
Shiloh, Tennessee 38376. The conference hotel is the Holiday Inn Express, 1252 North 12th Street, Middlesboro,
Kentucky 40965, 606-248-6860; conference room rate $76.95 per night plus tax (good until March 1), mention "The Civil
War Fortification Study Group." Conference registration fee of $110.00. |
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www.chattanoogacwrt.org |
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President -- Jim Ogden Vice President -- Ansley Moses |
Treasurer -- Harvey Scarborough Secretary -- Neil Greenwood |
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If you or a friend would like to join the Chattanooga Civil War Round Table, send
your check for dues, made out to Chattanooga Civil War Round Table, to Chattanooga
Civil War round Table, c/o Jim Ogden, 4 Gala Drive, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia 30742.
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Regular Membership $20.00 Senior Citizen (62+) $15.00 |
Family Membership $30.00 Student $15.00 |
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The Round Table dues year is October 1 to September 30. Membership fee for new
members joining after October is pro-rated, being reduced by $1.50 per month for
regular membership, by $2.50 per month for family membership, and $1.00 per month
for Senior Citizens and Students. Members up-dating their dues or rejoining are
expected to pay the full rate. [Note from the webmaster: a chart with the appropriate dues can be found at: Membership Dues. An application can be found at: application] |
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