January 2011

Volume 17 Number 5
The Battlefront
Newsletter of the Onondaga County Civil War Round Table organized 1994

January 20, 2011 Meeting

2010-11 OCCWRT Officers
Our annual “get your brain going again after the long holidays” meeting is upon us.
A. Scott Cauger, President It’s time for a friendly game of Civil War Jeopardy. Your newsletter editor will be
315 627-0232 hosting the game this year and plans to challenge your Civil War expertise as you
ascott.cauger@us.ngrid.com
scauger.occwrt@yahoo.com and your team confer before submitting a single team response in the form of a
question. You know the drill.
Elaine Tucker, Vice President
315 683- 5510
Alex Trebek introduces the categories at the beginning of the match. Here at the
Lisa Bradley, Secretary OCCWRT we believe in a few hints. This year’s categories are as follows: Famous
315 638-0283 CW Women, CW horses, Opposing Generals and Battles, CW Music, From the
lgbesq@twcny.rr.com
2010 Newsletter and a few more categories that are yet to be discovered. Stop
Dave Osborn, Treasurer worrying about it and join us for an evening of excruciating frustration and erudite
315 446-1715 banter, a.k.a. fun. The winning team will have a golden reward.
Kathy Ryan, Trustee
315 251-5889
kathleenryan1000@earthlink.net
President’s Message
Mike Carpenter, Trustee
315 420 5299 Happy New Year:
amandamatt8890@yahoo.com
Pat Stepanek, Newsletter Editor The New Year is a time to make resolutions. I resolve to master the War Between the
315 696-5531 States (the “War”) in its entirety by reading multiple chronicles that trace its progress,
pas1865@verizon.net events and military battles day-to-day from the early seizure of U. S. government
property during early 1860 until the final surrender of Confederate troops in 1865. I
plan to get a wide, comprehensive view of the War from the following daily chronicles:
Civil War Chronicle (General Editor J. Mathew Gallman/Agincourt Press Book)
Every Day of the Civil War, A Chronological Encyclopedia (Bud
Meeting Notice Hannings/McFarland & Company, Inc.)
Town of DeWitt The Civil War In Missouri Day By Day 1861-1865 by Carolyn M. Bartels (Two Trails
Publishing Company)
Community Room Confederate Chronicle Magazine (limited time magazine- 52 monthly issues tracing
the Confederacy chronology February 1861 (2011) through May 1865 (2015).
148 Sanders Creek Parkway
I am also re-affirming my pledge to read America's Civil War magazine regularly
East Syracuse, New York
starting with its March “Fort Sumter” edition. Please ask me, from time-to-time,
how my reading and study of the War is progressing!

Civil War OHA: Last week I sent Onondaga Historical Association Director Gregg A. Tripoli an
integrated list of ideas for the Sesquicentennial that we have been discussing off and on
Jeopardy since September. The ideas all revolve around three (3) major components: 1) Feature
(Civil War speaker or film); 2) Exhibit (OHA Civil War Collection), and 3) Social
Event. Thomas A Hunter, Assistant Director/Collections Curator, will be co-chairing a
Thursday, January 20, 2011 joint committee with me to plan the event. I have suggested the months of July or
October to OHA for celebrating the Sesquicentennial. I look forward to working with
7:00 PM Tom and other members of the OHA Staff on this event and promise to keep you abreast
of our progress.

Meetings are held at 7 PM on the third
Thursday of the month from September
through June and are free and open to
the public.
Directions to the Town of DeWitt Community Room
From 481N take Exit 5W to Kirkville Rd West. Merge onto Kirkville Rd and travel 1.2
miles. Turn right onto Kinne St and travel 0.7 miles. Turn right at Sanders Creek
Parkway and travel 0.2 miles to 148 Sanders Creek Parkway, the site of the East
Syracuse Fire Department and the Town of DeWitt Community Room.
 President’s Message (cont’d)
OCCWRT GOALS & OBJECTIVES: The EC has, since Bill
Goodwin was President, been discussing the need for long term
planning and discussing various long term goals and objectives.
I made identifying long-term goals one of the early initiatives in
my administration. The Executive Council has approved six (6)
long-term goals over a two-year horizon. Secretary Bradley and
I will do a special write-up on these as well as the new
Roundtable Mission Statement, recently adopted by the
Executive Council, in a special article slated for the February
edition of The Battlefront. Thanks for your patience.
DUES: This is a reminder that OCCWRT dues for all members
(new and old) for this year were due last December 31st but we
will still be collecting dues for 2011 through January 20, 2011
(our first meeting 2011). Failure to become a member by this
date will result in the loss of voting rights, newsletter
subscription, special event & road trip invites, and other
important membership privileges.
Reminder: The bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861
is considered to be the opening engagement of the American
Civil War. The countdown to the 150th Anniversary on April 12,
2011 is just 81 days away, as of the date of our next Round Table
meeting on January 20, 2010.
Thank you for your continued participation and interest in the
Roundtable. Have a safe, happy and prosperous New Year!
Kindest regards,
A. Scott Cauger
Secretary Lisa Bradley’s Report
At its December 9, 2010 meeting, the Executive Committee
continued to work on on-going programs. The OCCWRT and
the OHA will be collaborating on a Sesquicentennial Civil War
Event in 2011. The event will likely include an OHA exhibition
and reception. Scott Cauger is working closely with OHA's
Gregg Tripoli to coordinate additional Sesquicentennial
activities.
The Executive Committee is continuing its work on a new
OCCWRT website, which will include links to other civil war
organizations; a membership application form; the OCCWRT
constitution, bylaws and mission statement; explanation of the
purpose of Civil War Round Tables; history of the OCCWRT;
program schedules and descriptions; special events; Civil War
regiments from our area; a sample newsletter; and a "contact us"
link.
Consistent with one of the 2011 goals for OCCWRT, the
Executive Committee is continuing its discussion of one or
more potential road trips which might be of interest to
OCCWRT members, such as a trip to Newport News (with
perhaps a side trip to Antietam and Harpers Ferry) or to
Franklin. Since the OCCWRT is a sponsor of the General
Greene Statute at Gettysburg, and thus responsible for its care
and maintenance, a Spring Gettysburg trip is being considered.
The Franklin Charge campaign ($2,000 pledge) has been
extremely successful, both in terms of the fundraising activities
of the OCCWRT (bottle/can returns, silent auction, etc.) and in
terms of direct member contributions. As of December 9,
OCCWRT fundraising had totaled $555.50 (of which $404.50
were proceeds from November's silent auction, $22 were
proceeds from November's bottle/can returns, and $129 were
sums from OCCWRT fund-raising activities previously
remitted to Franklin Charge). Franklin Charge will inform us of
total member contributions. *
As of December 9, the OCCWRT had a General Fund
(checking) balance of $905.39; and a Project Fund (savings)
balance of $2,0083.88.
The Executive Committee has voted to provide plastic-
laminated name tags for members. Several members had
expressed an interest in having durable name tags, so that we all
can better get to know each other's names, and not just faces.
Finally, the Executive Committee is continuing its efforts to
assure on-going compliance with all federal and state laws and
regulations (including IRS requirements). With this in mind,
the Executive Committee will be looking at including greater
specificity in the OCCWRT constitution and bylaws of officer
duties and responsibilities. Those changes which require
OCCWRT member approval will be presented to members for a
vote.
*
Diane Haller reports the final total we have raised for
Franklin’s Charge from all fund-raising and member
contributions is $1462.50
James Buchanan
And the Secession of Southern States
by Mike Carpenter
Throughout his term as President, James Buchanan was no
stranger to controversy. From being involved in conflicts with
the Mormons in Utah, to the endorsement that Kansas be
admitted to the Union as a slave state under the Lecompton
Constitution, and supporting the Dred Scott Decision which
denied rights to African Americans, Buchanan was constantly
at odds with both political parties.
By 1860, Buchanan's presidency was in shambles. The
Democrats denied him another term, which eventually allowed
Abraham Lincoln to be elected. Lincoln's election triggered
the secession crisis. The South feared the new administration
would free the slaves and prepared to leave the Union.
In his message to Congress in December 1860, prior to
secession, Buchanan showed sympathy with the South by
blaming the sectional crisis on Northern interference with
slavery. He urged northern states to repeal their laws which
hampered the return of fugitive slaves. At the same time,
however, Buchanan defended the Union. He claimed the
secession was unconstitutional, but the North had no legal right
to stop them. Buchanan suggested that the South wait until the
Republicans committed some overt and dangerous act before
seceding. He was vague as to what actions the Federal
Government would take if a state were to secede.
On December 20th South Carolina became the first state to
secede from the Union, and within the next month, six more
southern states would follow suit. Once this crisis began,
Buchanan sought to retain the loyalty of the upper South and
avoid a confrontation with the departed states until they had
found their way back to the Union. He hoped that Congress or
the Peace Convention, which assembled in Washington in
February 1861, would find a solution to the crisis. He also
recommended that a constitutional convention be held to pass
amendments protecting slavery in the territories and slave
holding states. However, nothing ever became of these
compromise efforts.
Buchanan suddenly became faced with the delicate issue of
eminent domain which the South had declared over all federal
property within their borders. This included forts in South Carolina
and Florida. He initially ordered the reinforcement of theses forts,
but revoked his orders at the urging of pro-southern friends and
cabinet members. However, a series of changes in Buchanan’s
cabinet in late December replaced its pro-secessionist members
with staunch unionists. President Buchanan now changed his
position and sent a relief expedition to Ft. Sumter in Charleston
Harbor in early January 1861. The relief effort failed, and
Buchanan, not wanting to be responsible for starting a civil war,
returned to his previous policy of maintaining the status quo. An
unofficial truce prevailed at the forts. Buchanan never considered
surrendering the forts to the South, and at the end of his presidency,
they remained in federal hands.
On March 4, 1861, the date of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, a
weary and happy James Buchanan left office to retire to his
Wheatland estate near Lancaster, PA. Buchanan is quoted as saying
to Lincoln at the swearing in ceremony, “If you are as happy in
entereing the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland,
you are a happy man.”
Although Buchanan supported the war effort and blamed the South
for instigating the fighting, he was widely ridiculed for failing to put
down secession and to protect federal forts. He devoted much of his
retirement defending his administration, and in 1866 he published
his memoirs, Mr. Buchanan’s Administration on the Eve of the
Rebellion. He died on June 1, 1868 at the age of seventy-seven
from a severe cold and complications of old age.
Sources:
http://www.tulane.edu/~sumter/Buchanan.html
h t t p : / / w w w. s u i t e 1 0 1 . c o m / c o n t e n t / t h e - w o r s t - p r e s i d e n t - i n -
history-a236396
The First Shots
As Mike mentioned in the preceding article, President Buchanan
was involved in an incident pertinent to the resupply of Fort Sumter
in January 1861. When South Carolina seceded from the Union on
December 20, 1860, it demanded the immediate withdrawal of the
Federal garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. President
Buchanan refused to do so but was also careful not to make a
provocative move. Inside the fort, Major Robert Anderson and his
eighty soldiers needed supplies. The Buchanan administration
decided to dispatch a civilian merchant ship, the Star of the West
instead of a military transport, in order to keep tensions from
flaring.
The ship, captained by Philadelphia-born John McGowan, left New
York on January 5. After it was en route, Secretary of War Joseph
Holt received a dispatch from Anderson saying that the garrison
was safe and supplies were not needed immediately. Anderson
added that the secessionists were building gun emplacements
overlooking the main shipping channel into Charleston Harbor.
Holt realized that the ship was in great danger and that a war might
erupt. He tried in vain to recall the Star of the West. Anderson was
not aware that the ship continued on its way.
In the morning on January9, captain McGowan steered the ship into
the channel near the fort. Two cannon shots roared from a South
Carolina battery on Morris Island. They came from gunner George
Haynsworth, a cadet at The Citadel in Charleston. Though they
were poor shots, they represented the opening salvo of the war.
More shots were fired, and the ship suffered a hit. Anderson
watched from Sumter but did not respond in support of the ship. If
he had, the war may have started on that day. The ship returned to
New York. New York diarist George Templeton Strong wrote on
January 14, 1861:
The Star of the West has returned to this port with a big shot-
scar in her timbers...The nation pockets this insult to the national
flag; a calm dishonorable, vile submission. But it’s wise to
postpone actual hemorrhage as long as may be. Something may
turn up.
The standoff at Sumter continued until something did turn up. The
Confederates attacked the Fort in April 1861, triggering the Civil
War. This past January 9th, 150 years to the day, cadets from The
Citadel re-enacted the firing of the first hostile shots of the Civil
War.
Upcoming Speakers
February 17: Dr. Richard Somer - The Sesquicentennial of the
First Inaugural of Abraham Lincoln.
March17th - Ron Stork - Henry H. Vosseler- 122nd NYSV
Soldier
April 21: Michael Russert-Edward McPherson Farm and the
Citizens of Gettysburg
May 19: Chris Morton: N YS Flag Restoration Project
Thank You For Your Dues
Dues have been collected from the following for 2011:
Gerry Allen, Lisa Bradley, Scott Cauger, Mike Carpenter, Marion
Chester, The Conrad Family, Gordon Cruickshank, Dave Cuculich,
Nancy Edwards, Geoff Gantter (new member), Bill Goodwin,
Diane Haller, Ruth Hotaling, Mike Mordue, Letty Murray, Steve
Nathan, William O’Leary, Edward Repko, Ed Raus, M. Kent
Russell, Kathy Ryan, Kathryn Snell, Patricia Stepanek, Natalie &
Rick Trump, Elaine Tucker, Richard Walker and Fred Wyker.
Remember to bring your bottles and cans.
Editor’s Note: What follows is an extensive listing by Mike
Carpenter of the events of January 1861. Do read them. You will
sense the diminishing hopes for a peaceful solution to the sectional
discord Lincoln’s election had spawned. For those who had access
to a daily newspaper, imagine the headlines each day heralding
another Southern state seceding, or another federal fort seized, or
the breakdown of compromise efforts in Congress. Imagine what it
was like for those who had to wait weeks for any news and had to
rely on rumors. Remember, Lincoln was still in Illinois while the
Buchanan Administration simply marked time while Southern
Senators and Representatives withdrew from Congress. Each
successive outrage exhausted Northern forbearance. War, it
seemed, was inevitable. We begin the Civil War Sesquicentennial
year of 2011with Mike’s searing review of January 1861.
January 1 A pro-Union meeting in Parkersburg (now West
Virginia) resolves that secession is revolution.
January 3 Georgia militia under the command of Frank Bartow
seize Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah River, from a single
federal soldier and a contractor.
January 4 Alabama troops seize an arsenal near Mobile.
 Civil War Sesquicentennial January 1861 (cont'd)

January 5 At the last minute General Winfield Scott substitutes the Star of the West, a New York based merchant vessel
for the Brooklyn, a heavily armed and reinforced sloop ordered to sail to Fort Sumter to resupply the federal outpost.
The Brooklyn, however, is to travel to Fort Sumter with the Star of the West.

January 6 Florida militia takes over a federal arsenal near Appalachiacola.

January 6 Maryland's pro-Union governor denounces secession in a speech to the residents of the state.
January 6 Fernando Wood, mayor of NewYork, proposed that New York City should secede as well, allowing trade
with both the North and South.

January 7 John Crittenden tries to resurrect his proposal on the floor of the Senate. The proposal would have
extended the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific.
January 7 Virginia and Tennessee call a special session of its Assembly to consider convening a convention on
the question of secession.

January 9 Artillery fires on the Star of the West from Morris Island as it crosses into the main entrance channel
to Charleston Harbor. As the ship comes about, Fort Moultrie opens fire, also with cannon shot.A mile and a half from
Fort Sumter, the ship withdraws.
January 9 Mississippi secedes from the Union

January 10 Florida secedes from the Union. They simply replace the term "United States" with "Confederate
States" in their constitution
January 10 Major Anderson at Fort Sumter receives orders telling him to maintain a defensive position but to
defend the fort.

January 11 Alabama secedes from the Union

January 11 South Carolina demands the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson refuses.

January 12 Star of the West returns to New York City

January 12 Attorney-general I. W. Hayne leaves Charleston with a demand from Governor Pickens
that the federal government surrender Fort Sumter

January 16 The Crittenden Compromise dies on the floor of the Senate.

January 19 Following two days of debate and a day of hammering out the wording of the secession document,
Georgia votes to leave the Union.
January 19 Virginia calls for a peace conference.

January 21 All but 6 of the delegates to Georgia's Secessionist Convention sign the Ordinances of Secession
January 21 Jefferson Davis officially resigns from the senate.

January 24 Lucy, a female slave from Wheeling who fled to Cleveland, Ohio, is returned to her owner.
She is the last slave to be returned under the Fugitive Slave Law.

January 26 By a vote of 112 to 17, the Louisiana Secessionist Convention votes to secede from the Union.

January 26 The sovereign state of Mississippi establishes a state flag. It featured a white, five-pointed star
on a dark blue canton (commonly called the Bonnie Blue), a field of white with a magnolia tree and a red banner on the fly end.

January 29 Kansas admitted to the Union.

What will February 1861 bring?

f

Committees of the Onondaga County Civil War Round Table

Special Projects and Fundraising: Diane Haller, Chair 315 656 7059 greenfieldsdh@yahoo.com
Bill & Cheryl LaManch 315 656 2075 cheryl.lamanche@yahoo.com
Lisa Bradley 315 638 0283 lgbesq@twcny.rr.com

Programs: Bill Goodwin, Chair 437-3887

Gerry Allen 315 638 7934 occwrt122@gmail.com

Special Events/Road Trips:: Kathy Ryan, Chair kathleenryan100@earthlink.com

Darothy DeAngelo 315 682 6312
A. Scott Cauger ascott.cauger@us.ngrid.com

Newsletter Contributors: Kathy Ryan 315 251 5889 kathleenryan100@earthlink.com

Mike Carpenter 315 420 5299 amandamatt8890@yahoo.com
A. Scott Cauger ascott.cauger@us.ngrid.com
All OCCWRT Members are Encouraged to Contribute
Public Affairs: Gerry Allen 315 638 7934 occwrt122@gmail.com

Archivist: Darothy DeAngelo 315 682 6312

Membership Form
Onondaga County Civil War Round Table
2011 New Member/Renewal Form
*Membership dues of the OCCWRT are: Name________________________________

Please Check one of the Following

_____$20.00 a year Address______________________________
_____O.H.A. members $12.00
_____Seniors and Students $16.00
_____Family rate (2 or more) $32.00
City____________State______ Zip________
Dues may be paid at meetings or sent to:
Onondaga County Civil War Round Table Telephone_____________________________
ATTN: Dave Osborn, Treasurer
2 Thistlewood Lane
Fayetteville, New York 13088 Please check if you prefer an emailed newsletter
and can receive an Acrobat (pdf) file.
Please find $__________enclosed in form of
Circle One:
Check M.O. Cash E-Mail_______________________________
Date _____________________
* Dues will be pro-rated for new members who join at various times during the fiscal year.
The Onondaga County Civil War Round Table was organized in 1994 and is an incorporated non-profit educational organization. Meetings are held on
the third Thursday of the month from September through June. The purpose of the OCCWRT is to stimulate and encourage interest in the American Civil War, to
assist in community service in order to enhance the study and understanding of the Civil War, to provide educational and historical research of the period, and to
promote historic preservation.
O nondaga County
Civil War Round Table PO Box 175 Tully, NY 13159-0175