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Bugle Briefs...
How did Civil War deaths affect
population for 20th, 21st centuries?
Marilyn vos Savant – American magazine columnist, author, lecturer and playwright – recently was asked what the U.S. population may be if the Civil War had not occurred. The question was asked in view of the more than 600,000 deaths that resulted during the 1861-65 conflict.
Her answer is that the population would be about the same. She noted that most of those who died were men and that population numbers are determined by women.
vos Savant’s claim to fame is through her listing in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ.” Since 1986, she has written “Ask Marilyn,” a Parade magazine Sunday column where she solves puzzles and answers questions on various subjects.
For an up close and personal look at Civil War
be sure to read about Michael/Dave Shuffett
I first met Dave Shuffett in 1986 when he was a reporter for WLEX-TV in Lexington and when I was public relations director at Berea College. I was impressed with Dave’s professionalism and engaging personality and, years later, enticed him to become a member of my Public Relations Advisory Council.
But I didn’t know of Dave’s interest in and close relationship to the Civil War. I discovered that with his Kentucky Educational Television (KET) “Kentucky Life” special about his great-great-grandfather, Michael Shuffett, who was a Union private during the war. Also, I was amazed at the family resemblance when he sent me a photo of Michael.
Be sure to read the story about Dave and his ancestor in this issue. And, on KET, there’s probably more about Dave and the Civil War to come. Watch it. He’ll give us a close up and personal look about Kentucky’s involvement in this historical event.
- Ed Ford, Bugle Editor
Crutcher provides Ohio city with its third visit
by civil rights leader Frederick Douglass
Warren, Ohio recently received its third visit by Civil War statesman and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. This time it was in the form of Nicholasville’s Michael Crutcher, who is being hailed as the premier portrayer of the African-American social reformer.
Crutcher provided his first-person portrayal in February at Warren’s program celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. He spoke and answered questions in presentations at the Warren-Trumbull County Library and the Trumbull County Courthouse.
Douglass spoke in Warren in 1847 and again at the Warren City Building in 1876. He visited the Warren area, which, during the Civil War, was anti-slavery and part of the Underground Railroad that aided fugitive slaves in their escape to freedom. Crutcher travels internationally in his portrayal of the civil rights leader and close friend of President Abraham Lincoln.
…and, at Corinth
Crutcher will take his Douglass impression next to Corinth, Miss., where he’ll appear in a panel discussion with another Kentucky favorite, Dr. Curt Fields, who will portray Union Gen. U.S. Grant.
The presentation is scheduled April 18 at Corinth Coliseum Civic Center as part of the April 17-18 Corinth Contraband Camp Symposium. Also participating in the discussion will be George Buss portraying President Abraham Lincoln.
Work on U.S.S. Monitor turret slowing to halt
as federal support continues to diminish
Diminishing federal dollars have slowed the preservation and restoration of a revolving turret from the U.S.S. Monitor and some 200 tons of Civil War ironclad artifacts. The turret, which was lifted from the ocean floor in 2002, and other large pieces rest in a lab at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Va. Museum officials said a steady decline in annual funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration temporarily closes to the public “a window on the nation’s maritime history and delaying subsequent public display possibly by decades.”
New Civil War museum scheduled to open in 2016
The American Civil War Museum has been chosen as the new name of a Richmond, Va., museum formed by the merger of the Museum of the Confederacy and the American Civil War Center.
The new facility is scheduled to open in 2016.
The name change became official on Jan. 10 with an amendment to the Civil War Holdings articles of incorporation filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
Archaeologists race to uncover prison artifacts
Racing against time, South Carolina archeologists are digging to uncover the remnants of a Civil War-era prisoner-of-war camp before the site in downtown Columbia is cleared to make room for a mixed-use development.
Researchers have been given until June to excavate a small portion of the 165-acre grounds of the former South Carolina State Hospital to find the remnants of what was once known as “Camp Asylum.” Conditions at the camp, which held 1,500 Union Army officers during the winter of 1864-65, were so dire that soldiers dug and lived in holes in the ground, which provided shelter against the cold.
The site was sold to a developer for $15 million last summer, amid hopes it becomes an urban campus of shops and apartments and possibly a minor league baseball field.
Chief archaeologist Chester DePratter said researchers are digging through soil to locate the holes – the largest being 7-feet long, 6-feet wide and 3-feet deep – as well as whatever possessions the officers may have left behind.
Willis preservation nominations being accepted
Nominations will be accepted through April 11 for the 36th Annual Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation Historic Preservation Awards, which recognize excellence in the preservation of Kentucky’s historic buildings and cultural resources, including archaeological sites.
Contributions can be through investment, advocacy, volunteerism, building partnerships, public involvement, lifelong commitment or significant achievement.
Nominations may be submitted via email to kyheritage@ky.gov; by fax, to 502-564-5820; or by mail to the Kentucky Heritage Council, 300 Washington St., Frankfort, KY 40601. The awards will be announced in May.
Sorry, Abe, but it’s time to go
Say it ain’t so, Abe!
But it is. America’s 16th president is up for sale at Gettysburg.
The American Wax Museum, which has occupied a prime spot near the center of the Gettysburg battlefield for nearly 50 years, has announced it will auction off a life-sized animatronic Abraham Lincoln. In fact, it already may be sold.
Lincoln is among dozens of historical figures – most made of vinyl, not wax – that are being offered in what is being described as “a once in a lifetime sale.”
It’s estimated that more than nine million people have walked through the museum since it opened in 1962 and “it’s time for a change of scene.”
Even Hawaii, its residents involved in Civil War
“Hawaiians and POWs from Hawaii in the American Civil War” was a topic discussed recently at the National Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville, Ga.
Dr. Justin Vance, a history professor from Hawaii Pacific University, noted there was a close relationship between Hawaii and the United States for 40 years before the Civil War began. And, he said, there are many reasons “that people of the Pacific decided to take part.”
Hawaii missionary descendants and many New England-educated Native Hawaiians had interests in preserving the Union and in abolition, while other Hawaiians joined the Confederate Navy, he said.
Native Hawaiians often were assigned to colored regiments in the United States Army, serving alongside African American soldiers. At least two Hawaiians were captured during the conflict and shared their prisoner of war experience with thousands of others.
Antietam provided some interesting facts
Here are a few facts for Civil War consumption:
• During the Battle of Antietam, 12,401 Union men were killed, missing or wounded, double the casualties of D-Day, 82 years later. With a total of 23,000 casualties on both sides, it was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War.
• During the Battle of Antietam, Clara Barton tended the wounded so close to the fighting that a bullet went through her sleeve and killed a man she was treating.
• At the start of the war, the value of all manufactured goods produced in all the Confederate states added up to less than one-fourth of those produced in New York State alone.
• At Cold Harbor, Va., 7,000 Americans fell in 20 minutes.
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