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Email Uncovers Dispute Regarding The American Civil War Round Tables in Australia |
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Email Uncovers Dispute Regarding The American Civil War Round Tables in Australia |
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WEBMASTER NOTE: about halfway down this email I have highlighted in color the Jim Gray email as copied
from the Chattanooga CWRT website, and the ACWRT in Australia response (in blue) written by Barry J. Crompton. Dear Members of the Chattanooga Civil War Round Table, I am sending this to you, in reference to the message that you received from the well known plagiarist, and literary thief, Jim Gray, of the Queensland branch of the Civil War Round Table. He has been involved in much unsavory activities, stealing the work of numerous other Civil War researchers, here in Australia, and using it as his own, at his web site, despite our requesting him not to do this. We all (the various other members of the Melbourne and Sydney and other branches of the Civil War Round Tables in Australia) know him as the common thief that he is. Much of the work at his web site was stolen from a published work of our original research, titled CIVIL WAR VETERANS IN AUSTRALIA, by the late Roy Parker, and published by his daughter, Virginia Crocker (e-mail crockers2@westnet.com.au) in 2000, long before Gray even had an interest in the veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand. Mrs. Crocker sent him only one message warning him against using the material, yet he ignored her, knowing that legal action would be too expensive. She refused to have anything further to do with him, as he was causing her so much stress. Barry Crompton and I had originally sent him many additional pieces of data on these veterans, but never gave him permission to use it at the web site, and we were all amazed when it first appeared on the net last year. We requested that he remove it, but he ignored all our pleas, constantly. Barry Crompton (e-mail: BCrompton@bigpond.com) is the current secretary ( and previous president) of the main branch of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia, and regularly publishes the unofficial newsletter included below. If you wish to find out more about the activities of the plagiarist Jim Gray, you may wish to get in touch with him, or even Virginia, through their e-mail addresses, included above. We originally did not want Gray to use our hard work of more than 20 years ago, because he was constantly making errors of his own, despite our data being very, very accurate. He did not even know where Vicksburg was, as shown on one of his web pages, originally showing it (three times in the biography) as being in the state of Virginia, but corrected it when we mentioned this to his Round Table compatriots. He comes out with numerous mistakes on Civil War history, despite all the data being freely available on the Internet and in published volumes. He even ordered (and received) Veterans Administration grave markers for persons whom he believed were Civil War veterans buried in Australia, even though we had advised him that this information was incorrect, and we were then able to prove, through documentation from the U.S., that these supposed veterans buried in Australia were actually buried in the U.S. He is just absolutely worthless as a researcher, and Barry, Virginia and many others can confirm these facts to you. Please make contact with him, with extreme caution, because he tends to lie through his teeth, and will never ever be straightforward about what has happened in his supposed "research" on these veterans. Please contact Barry or the Civil War Round Table in Melbourne (the main branch), before any damage is done, I urge you. Thank you for your time.
Regards,
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From: Barry Crompton
AN ARCHER-GRAM
One month over for 2007 and we settle in for the long haul. Robert E. Lee’s birthday on January 19th was a special day
to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth, I can’t wait to see what will happen in 2009 for the 200th anniversary
of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
Congratulations to one of our founder members, Stuart Duff, for attaining his 60th birthday on January 29th and also
belated congrats to Jeff Yuille who reached the same milestone on December 31st. We aren’t getting older we’re getting better!
A special reminder that we have a grave marker dedication on Sunday February 25th at the Boroondara Cemetery in the Melbourne suburb Kew.
Alfred Galen Crawford of the Fourth Massachusetts Heavy Artillery is buried there and the Friends of the Cemetery have arranged
for a ceremony at 10:30 a.m., please let me know if you wish to attend so that we can organise light refreshments.
ROUND TABLE MEETINGS
Our 2007 season kicked in with a great meeting on January 24th at the Retreat Hotel with a presentation by President Sean Young
on the year of 1863 and his choice as the battle, which has the greatest turning point of the war. Sean said that the battle of
Chattanooga was the one that changed the war. A very formidable series of challenges were made by members and we are indebted to
Sean for his great delivery of a suitably interesting topic.
Next meeting in Melbourne on Wednesday, February 28th and I’ve got the distinction of leading the lecture for the evening on the
subject of “What Got You Interested in the Civil War” so everyone have a think of why we study this subject and we’ll ask everyone
for their thoughts. After a discussion I’ll then give my opinion of why we spend so much time on one time frame.
At the February meeting we shall also see thew tabling of reports of our Annual General Meeting. The President and Treasurer will
deliver their reports and voting on awards and tallying of votes for positions on the committed will be recorded. We have six people
voted to our committee that of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and two Members’ Representatives. All bar one position
from last year are returning and no other nominations were received so we return with Chris Hookey as Vice President, Jeff Yuille as
Treasurer, Ian Caldwell as Secretary; Judy May and Bill Dunkley are all elected unopposed; our current President Sean Young has decided
to step down due to work commitments and two nominations have been received to this position Lewis Scheuch-Evans and Dale Blair.
According to our constitution all current paid members for 2007 are entitled to vote for this election and voting slips should be
forwarded prior to the meeting and need to be returned by February 27th to the Secretary. . Membership fees need to be sent to our
esteemed treasurer (Jeff Yuille) to make you financial for voting.
Awards shall also be announced on the night for our best researcher and lecturer in 2006 as well as the Cum Grano Salis Award.
ADDITIONS TO THE JAMES J. ARCHER LIBRARY
A mountain of books has arrived over the past couple of weeks, several titles ordered from Powell’s Books and Amazon over
the Internet; also some from Mechling Books of Pennsylvania who have been doing some regimental histories of that state plus
a handful of books have arrived at Hyland’s Bookshop from the new university catalogs. I notice that new catalogs have been
made available at Butternut & Blue as well as the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop so lots of
reading for the new year.
Lowell Griffin in Louisville, Kentucky, sent over a pile of literature to help with our tour of the western battlefields in a
couple of months and also a few other items of interest. One journal was a copy of the Register of the Kentucky Historical
Society for Autumn 2005 (Volume 103, Number 4) which was several articles of Civil War links “Public Reactions to Ulysses S.
Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign in Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Across the Union” by James A. Ramage and Kristopher A. Teters and
“The Civil War Transformation of George W. Smith: How a Western Kentucky Farmer Evolved from Unionist Whig to Pro-Southern
Democrat” by Charles E. Yonkers. Another item of use to historians will be “Kentucky in 1860: A Statistical Overview” by
Kenneth H. Williams and James Russell Harris.
CIVIL WAR VETERANS IN AUSTRALIA AND OTHER LINKS
From: "G M Davies"
Barry,
JJ, his brother, was a civil engineer and fought for the CSA. I have little record of his service as he had to
desert near the end of the war. The legend is that he did this by jumping a train load of what he thought at night
was firewood, and which turned out to be a load of stiff bodies that he was hiding amongst. He also returned to
Perth where he was responsible for some notable engineering projects. He called his house "Richmond" probably as
a result of his service to the South.
Neither of them supposedly knew they were on opposite sides at the time of the war. It all became clear when they
both returned. It did not seem to split the family as they continued with cordial relations in Australia.
They were Irish born, Kentstown, Galway, I think. We never knew why they joined up, JJ was possibly in the South
when war broke out, and being an engineer, they might have pulled him off the street and into the army? I have no
idea how NR became involved. They were both from a wealthy family at the time and had no need to become involved.
They both returned to the UK and then migrated at separate times to Queensland and then WA. My relative might have
come directly to WA.
I have a cousin, Warren, who is the family historian and I have sent this to him as he knows so much more.
Unfortunately not a lot on offer for the brothers no mention of Netterville in the 1860 census and the 5th United
States Regular Cavalry doesn’t have a N. or an R. Davies in the roster (or Davis / Davy etc.). Another family mystery
which probably have grown over the years.
From: "Gail Davies"
Barry,
He was born in County Galway, Ireland. He probably was not in the US in 1860.
His discharge paper is made out in the name of Nettervillle R Davies, 2nd M. Sargant of Co G, US 5th Cavalry.
His listed battles include: Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, Port Royal, Shennandoah, Martinsburg, Mannassas, The Wilderness,
Heldon Rail Road as well as the two he was decorated for and others I can't read from the copy of the discharge
certificate I have. I have photos of both faces of both medals and a copy of the discharge paper. The originals of
both medals and the discharge paper is held by family.
I have also done extensive internet searches and can't find his name. The fifth was a regular army unit. I believe
the regular army, as opposed to the volunteer units made up during the war, did not have extensive internet published
lists, these might have to be gained from the US government directly. I have little detail of his brother's Confederate
service, but this is not surprising, considering how it turned out for them. Please let me know if you find anything,
or you have a lead to follow.
Garry Davies
I responded to the email by saying that
# # # # # #
From: "Jean Morris"
Mr. Crompton,
Do you have any contacts in Australia or the U.S. where we might get more documentation on Charles Lee and Lewis Lee?
Thanks so much for any help.
Jean Morris
AUSTRALIA AND THE CIVIL WAR
I recently saw an item on the Chattanooga Civil War Round table’s webpage which caught my attention:
Greetings from The American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, Australia, Inc.
The following email was sent to our Round Table on January 30, 2007:
The American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, Inc
Greetings from a Round Table Confederate Civil War descendant from Florida, now living in Australia.
I'm James Gray, a direct Confederate descendant and member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
My ancestors fought for the Confederacy from and in North Carolina, I was born and lived in Tampa,
Florida until I married a lady from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I was involved in research in
Florida for some 30 years, now I do it here and donate it all to the National Library of Australia.
I just wanted to touch base and commend you on your group and your website.
You may want to have your members take a look at the Memorial Website at www.acwv.info; which includes
Confederates and Union buried in Australia and New Zealand.
It really is a small world. If I can ever be of assistance in any way, please let me know. Much to the
dismay of the Union minded groups in New South Wales, I do a lot of research and place it where everyone,
world wide, can use and copy it. The American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, Inc., unlike the American
Civil War Round Table of Australia (down south), we are 99%+ Confederate minded and all Confederate reenactors
as well. We set up our Confederate camp each year at History Alive in Brisbane. You can visit our website at
www.acwrtq.com. If you would like, I could have your website linked to it; let me know. Us Confederates gotta
stick together.
I hope you will keep in touch.
Jim Gray
INCOMING LETTERS, EMAIL & PHONE CALLS
From: "David L. Smith"
Barry:
Have a g'day
From: "Bob Jones"
Hi Barry,
I didn't get my invitation to attend as was promised by Jerry Williams, but by 'accident' I did get to meet Ed Bearrs
at Enrica House, Rumford Place, Liverpool. A firm of surveyors are taking over Alabama House and restoring it to a state
that would reflect the Victorian era. I was there to have a nose around and chat to the Manager Terry Reed and her dad,
John O'Neill when Jerry Williams, Len Ellison, both of the ACWRT(UK), appeared and I got to shake hands with Ed who is the
number two in the CWPT of America.
I think that you will, like myself, spot the couple of 'small' errors in the blurb below, (now in red) but after e-mailing
Jim it was accepted that the historians who were supposed to have read this before it went out 'forgot their glasses'.
I will attach a couple of pictures of this event and myself with Ed outside of Enrica House.
best regards,
----------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Campi=20
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:31 PM
Subject: Civil War Sites in United Kingdom Recognized
England's Wirral Maritime Heritage Trail Becomes Second Overseas Site on Civil War Discovery Trail
(Wirral, England, 11/29/2006)
The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), America's largest nonprofit battlefield preservation group, today announced
the addition of the Wirral Maritime Heritage Trail to the 600-site Civil War Discovery Trail. The Wirral Maritime Heritage
Trail becomes the first Civil War Discovery Trail site in the United Kingdom and the second to be designated outside the United States.
Edwin C. Bearss, CWPT Trustee and Chief Historian Emeritus of the U.S. National Park Service, will be the keynote speaker
at the designation ceremonies. According to Bearss, the area along the River Mersey in southwestern England played a crucial
role in equipping the fledgling Confederate Navy. He noted that the most famous Confederate raider of the entire war, C.S.S.
Alabama, was built at the Laird Brothers Shipyard at Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula, across the Mersey River from Liverpool.
"Adding the Wirral Maritime Heritage Trail to the Civil War Discovery Trail brings an important dimension to our understanding
of the international partnerships that supported the Confederate war effort," remarked Bearss. "This formal designation of the
region's role in the war will provide unique insights into the breadth and scope of what was an immensely far-reaching conflict.
The Civil War did not just stop at the water's edge."
CWPT President Jim Lighthizer agreed, adding "The Civil War Discovery Trail tells the story of the American Civil War
and its dramatic impact on the development of our nation. The Civil War Preservation Trust is proud to be the steward
of such a unique resource and delighted that such an understanding of the importance of the Civil War exists overseas."
The Wirral peninsula is bordered to the west by the River Dee, to the south by Cheshire, and to the east by the River
Mersey. Facing the city of Liverpool and extending into the Irish Sea, it already had a long shipbuilding tradition when
Confederate leaders sent James D. Bulloch to England in 1861 with $1 million and orders to commission ships for the
Confederate Navy. The posting was fortuitous since, as Bearss stated, "Bulloch, like his nephew, future president Theodore
Roosevelt, recognized the critical importance of sea power and the significance of the Wirral's connection to the ocean."
Working with other Confederate agents in the area, Bulloch was able smuggle millions of dollars worth of scarce naval and
military materiel into the South. Bulloch also covertly commissioned the construction of C.S.S. Alabama, which masqueraded
as Enrica until after she was launched.
Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking U.S. merchant and naval ships for two years. Although she never set anchor
in a Southern port, she wreaked enormous havoc on U.S. shipping, claiming more than 60 prizes valued at more than $6 million.
For more than 20 months, Alabama cruised both the north and south Atlantic, crossed the Indian Ocean twice and navigated the
waters off Indonesia. The damages were so heavy that after the war, the United States successfully pursued compensation from
the British government.
"In 1864, Alabama was sunk in combat with U.S.S. Kearsarge off the coast of Cherbourg, France," Bearss noted. "Alabama's captain,
Raphael Semmes, rescued after the battle by the British yacht Greyhound, became a hero to millions of Southerners. But, at the
same time, he was seen as a pirate by equal numbers of Northerners."
Cite de la Mer, a French maritime museum in Cherbourg with extensive exhibits on the recently rediscovered Alabama wreck, was the
first foreign site added to the Civil War Discovery Trail, joining the ranks in 2004.
In 2000, when the Civil War Discovery Trail was selected by the White House as a National Millennium Trail, First Lady Hillary
Rodham Clinton called it a "visionary project that defines us as Americans." According to Lighthizer, "We are especially proud
to include another international Civil War site to the Civil War Discovery Trail."
Each site on the Civil War Discovery Trail is operated independently. CWPT helps promote these sites through its website
( http://www.civilwar.org), a comprehensive guide book entitled Civil War Sites, published by Globe Pequot Press, and an
extensive collection of maps produced by the National Geographic's MapMachine which are available online at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/civilwar.
With more than 70,000 members, CWPT is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States.
Its mission is to preserve our nation's remaining Civil War battlefields. Since 1987, the organization has saved more than 23,000
acres of hallowed ground. CWPT's website is located at www.civilwar.org .
For more information about the Civil War Discovery Trail, visit
www.civilwardiscoverytrail.org
For media inquiries, contact: Jim Campi (CWPT), 202-367-1861 ext. 205;
Jane Carroll (Wirral Council), 0151 691 8088.
CIVIL WAR IN THE MEDIA
From Clarksville CWRT newsletter
A new Civil War film by independent filmmaker Rebecca Sutera Tulloch entitled "Prairie Rose" has been released on
DVD and is now available. The film tells the fictional historical drama of a young woman’s adventure to rescue her
husband from a Civil War Union POW camp in Chicago in the fall of 1862. It is a tale of intrigue and daring plus
human perseverance.
The movie was filmed with the help of Civil War re-enactors and several museums in Illinois. Taking over 4 years
to produce, it was self-funded and shows what a good film can be without big Hollywood budgets. The Chicago camp of
the Sons Of Confederate Veterans recently endorsed the movie.
Details about the film as well as how to purchase it can be found on the producer's website: www.prairierosemovie.com
CIVIL WAR PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION
Lowell Griffin passed on a copy of the Summer 2006 edition of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association’s newsletter.
The 1863-1864 headquarters of Confederate general James Longstreet has been saved from demolition and will become a museum.
Believe to have been built in 1838, the two-story frame house is located on Highway 11E in Russellville. The house will be
restored to its Civil War era appearance, contain exhibits with Civil War artifacts and serve as a “welcome center” for Civil
War sites in the region.
SHORT NOTES AND PARTING SHOTS
I’m currently reading a book on the siege of Khartoum by Michael Asher, “Khartoum: The Ultimate Imperial Adventure”
(Penguin Books, 2006) and although this particular episode occurred in Africa in the 1880’s with the renowned general
Charles “Chinese” Gordon in command, amongst the onlookers to this was Bennet Burleigh, correspondent for the London
Daily Telegraph. Burleigh’s past adventures included a stint in the American Civil War having served with the Confederacy
(page 111) and also noted on page 125 that he had been twice captured and twice condemned to death by the Federal authorities.
The bibliography of this book shows two citations for Bennet Burleigh, one “Desert Warfare” published in 1884 and the other,
“The Khartoum Campaign” published in 1899. I’ll attempt to track down the evidence of his service and see what comes out
whether the meanderings of a correspondent with a spirit of exaggeration or a real participant. A quick check of the index
to the Confederate compiled service records doesn’t show his name so maybe a search on the Internet might narrow the field.
As it has turned out, the roster of soldiers in “Civil War Data” didn’t show his name and I haven’t been able to list anything
of importance and the roster in the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors database was the same. Nothing appeared in Yahoo other than his
books written on the war in Africa.
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