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CINCINNATI
 CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE
Serving Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Since 1956

CCWRT News & Events

Past News & Events items are available at: Archives--Items from Past CCWRT News & Events

Major New Civil War Collection at Cincinnati Museum Center: Lt David Jones, a Welsh immigrant to Cincinnati, was a Captain in the 1st Kentucky Infantry. This collection includes letters, muster rolls, and other materials related to his service, which included western Virginia in 1861, Shiloh, Stones River, and Chickamauga. He was captured at Pea Vine Creek GA in September 1863, and imprisoned at Atlanta and Richmond Libby Prison, from which he escaped. The muster rolls included in this collection provide a nearly complete record of Company D of the 1st Kentucky Volunteers including members, ranks, arms and where they marched and camped from 1861 to 1863. See here for further information and links to the CMC website.

Project to Restore Lytle Monument at Chickamauga: BG William Haines Lytle was a prominent lawyer and citizen of Cincinnati in 1861, when he organized and commanded the 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Known throughout the country as a poet, Lytle was killed in action as a brigade commander at the Battle of Chickamauga on 20 Sep 1863. A memorial monument was built in 1894 by Union veterans at the location of his death. Originally a pyramid of approximately 350 cannonballs, the “monument” now consists of only the side of the original pyramid that contains the identifying plaque. The other two sides of the monument have “disappeared” many years ago for unknown reasons, perhaps by vandalism or perhaps used to repair other monuments in the park.

Finally, something is being done to restore the monument to its original condition. A partnership has been formed to raise funds for the restoration between the Sons of Union Veterans William H. Lytle Camp #10 (Cincinnati) and the Friends of Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park (501-c-3.) With an estimated cost of $65,00, the project’s intent is to have the restoration completed and rededicated on the 150th Anniversary of the battle in 2013.

For more information and/or to make a donation:

- SUVCW Lytle Camp #10: http://www.suvcwcincinnati.org/

- Friends of Chickamauga: http://www.chickchatt.org/article.php?story=20100920123510264&query=Lytle. This site includes photographs of the original monument and its current condition, and has arrangements for secure online contributions.

Website www.civilwar.com: From Mike Rogers: Our current preservation project and the rest of this season's speaker list are published at www.civilwar.com. This website offers an outlet to help gain awareness to a very broad community of Civil War enthusiasts beyond our local area. The posting can be found here: http://www.civilwar.com/news/recent-postings/150477-cincinnati-civil-war-round-table-2011-2012-preservation-campaign-and-speaker-series.html.

Civilwar.com also offers an interactive battle map, which allows you to select a state and look up every battle that took place within that state. You can view information such as commanders, units involved, casualties, and a description. This is a very interesting and educational tool, and many of our members might find it interesting. The interactive battle map can be found at: http://www.civilwar.com/resources/battle-map.html.

Update--John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail: From David Mowery: In a recent public event attended by a representative from the Ohio Historical Society (OHS), it was announced that the schedule for delivery of the Ohio John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail signs has been officially set for the Summer of 2012. This date will allow time for ODOT to work with the 76 different counties, townships, cities, and villages who will be receiving and installing signs for the Morgan Trail in Ohio. The signs may arrive as early as Spring 2012, but ODOT is aware that some municipalities must have several months advance warning of the sign delivery dates in order to allow their staffs time to install them no later than July 2012. The publication of the guidebook and free trail brochure will also be completed by Summer 2012.

The official state-wide dedication of the Morgan Trail has been set for a weekend in July 2013, the 150th anniversary of Morgan’s Indiana-Ohio Raid. The exact weekend in July 2013 has not been chosen yet, but we expect to pick an exact date by the end of this year. Even though the Morgan Trail signs will be in the ground for nearly a year ahead of the dedication, it was decided that July 2013 would be the most appropriate month to commemorate the whole trail, and would allow for the necessary time for planning such a large event. However, each municipality may choose to dedicate its portion of the Morgan Trail at any time after the installation of its signs; there is no requirement to correlate each municipality’s dedication to the date of the dedication of the whole trail.

The John Hunt Morgan Heritage Trail is a 1000-mile long driving tour utilizing hundreds of directional signs and wayside interpretive signs installed across the states of Kentucky, Indiana, and (soon) Ohio. It recalls the raid of John Hunt Morgan’s Confederate cavalry division in July 1863, the only major Civil War military action on Ohio soil.

CCWRT Tour to Shiloh and Corinth report available here.

New Book on Johnson's Island Prison: Professor David Bush's new book is now available: I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island: Life in a Civil War Prison. It is an anthropological/archaeological/historical look at letters between Wes Makely and his wife Kate. There are 49 plates illustrating the hard rubber industry, the photographic exploits of Robert Smith, and many other items. The book takes you through Wes' coping with being a prisoner of war at Johnson's Island and how both governments failed to treat their prisoners appropriately. The book is being sold through the Friends and Descendants of Johnson's Island and thus will be a fund raiser for their continued preservation efforts. An order form is here, and additional information is in the newsletter linked below.

Newsletter from Friends & Descendants of Johnson's Island Civil War Prison here.

CCWRT Constitution: As part of the business meeting on May 19, CCWRT membership considered and approved several changes to the CCWRT Constitution after a review by the Officers and Trustees. The revised Constitution is available here.