Monthly Archives: May 2019

Meeting of June 25, 2019

Bill Yenne on “The Civil War Careers of Tom Custer”

The life, the legacy, and the Civil War years of Captain Thomas Ward Custer have long been overshadowed by those of his older brother—George Armstrong Custer—yet he was significant in his own right as the first soldier ever to be awarded two Medals of Honor. Tom fought at his brother’s side through the climactic battles of 1865 and during campaigns in the West, yet it is widely forgotten that he had two distinct Civil War careers—the first as an enlisted infantryman in an Ohio regiment, and a second as a cavalry officer in a Michigan brigade. Bill Yenne pulls back the curtain from the life of the wrongly overlooked younger brother and tells the stories of those two Civil War careers.

Bill Yenne is the award-winning author of numerous works of military history, as well as books on other historical subjects, including a highly regarded biography of Sitting Bull, and several novels. His recent book, The Other Custers: Tom, Boston Nevin & Maggie in the Shadow of George Armstrong Custer, tells the compelling stories of Tom and the “other” siblings, and how not one, not two, but three of the brothers died at the Little Bighorn. He lives in San Francisco, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com.

Quiz for June 25, 2019

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About These Civil War Authors and Historians?

Q#1 – Who was the American historian, noted for his writing on the American Civil War, who was widely acclaimed for his book on The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856, which is still considered one of the most important books ever written on 19th-century American politics?

Q#2 – Who was the author who, in 1988, published his Pulitzer-winning book Battle Cry of Freedom?

Q#3 – This famous Civil War author and historian was inspired by his planter grandfather, who had died two years before his birth. Who was he?

Q#4 – After the publication of Captain Sam Grant (1950) by historian and biographer Lloyd Lewis, who wrote the second and third volumes of this trilogy?

Q#5 – Who is this author who has long been considered a leading authority on the Reconstruction Era of American history as evidenced by his seminal essay in American Heritage in October 1982?

Q#6 – The founding executive director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies research and education center is also considered the preeminent scholar on Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Who is he?

Q#7 – What well renowned Civil War historian made this profound quote: “I don’t want to call it a conspiracy to ignore the role of the Blacks, both above and below the Mason-Dixon Line, but it was definitely a tendency that began around 1910”?

Q#8 – This famous author and Civil War historian won the 2005 Lincoln Prize (for the best book about the American Civil War) for her 2005 book about Abraham Lincoln’s presidential cabinet. Part of the book was adapted by Tony Kushner into the screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s 2012 film Lincoln. Who is she?

Q#9 – Who is the Bay Area author who wrote Brady’s Civil War Journal: Photographing the War, 1861-65?

Q#10 – This famous Civil War author’s initial interest in the history of the Civil War first began after an eighth grade school field trip to the Gettysburg battlefield. Who is he?

Q#11 – Who is this now deceased famous Civil War author and historian who is attributed to this quote: “The point I would make is that the novelist and the historian are seeking the same thing: the truth – not a different truth: the same truth – only they reach it, or try to reach it, by different routes?

Q#12 – This famous Civil War historian was named Chief Historian of the National Park Service, a position he held until 1994. From 1994 to 1995, he served as special assistant to the director. After his retirement in 1995, he received the title Chief Historian Emeritus, which he holds to this day. What is his name?

Q#13 – Civil War Times (formerly Civil War Times Illustrated) is a history magazine published bi-monthly that covers the American Civil War. It was established in 1962 by whom?

Q#14 – Who is this American documentarian known for his style of using archival footage and photographs in his films?

Q#15 – Which Civil War historian served for nine years as co-chairman of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, appointed to the commission by President Bill Clinton in 2000, and elected co-chair by his fellow commissioners?

Meeting of May 28, 2019

Libra Hilde on “African American Soldiers and the Civil War”

The talk explores the recruitment of African American men into the Union Army, their motivations for fighting, who fought, treatment and experiences in the army, and exemplary service. Although the talk given by Dr. Hilde in her university class only considers African American soldiers in the Union, she hopes to add information on the proposed recruitment of enslaved men into the Confederate Army, a plan that never came to fruition (the war was essentially over) and did not have the support of slaveholders.

Dr. Libra Hilde is a professor in History at San Jose State University. She received her Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2003. While she teaches a broad array of undergraduate and graduate courses, her research focuses on race and gender in the 19th century U.S., with a particular emphasis on the Civil War and slavery.

Quiz for May 28, 2019

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Presidential Election of 1860?

Q#1 – Why didn’t incumbent President James Buchanan run for re-election in 1860?

Q#2 – The Republican Party replaced what then defunct political party as the major opposition to the Democrats?

Q#3 – The Constitutional Union Party replaced what two political parties?

Q#4 – The Republican Party held its nominating convention in Chicago. What was the name of the temporary wood-frame assembly hall it was held in?

Q#5 – Lincoln’s nomination at the Republican Party’s convention was a surprise. Who was the favorite before the convention was held?

Q#6 – There were two Democratic National Conventions in 1860; why?

Q#7 – In what city were the two 1860 Democratic National Conventions held?

Q#8 – Abraham Lincoln was the Republican Party nominee; Stephen Douglas was the Northern Democratic Party nominee. Who were the nominees for the Southern Democratic and Constitutional Union parties?

Q#9 – Hannibal Hamlin was Lincoln’s VP running mate. What was the name of Stephen A. Douglas’s VP running mate?

Q#10 – What were some of the critical key differences between modern presidential elections and those of the mid-nineteenth century?

Q#11 – What was the main campaign platform that Stephen Douglas, the Northern Democrat’s presidential candidate, ran on?

Q#12 – What was the only state in which Stephen A. Douglas won the Electoral College vote?

Q#13 – Percentage wise, the voter turnout for the 1860 presidential election was the highest in American history up to that time; what was the percent?

Q#14 – What percentage of the popular vote did Lincoln win?

Q#15 – Abraham Lincoln, the endorsed Republican candidate for President, didn’t even appear on ten states’ ballots in 1860. What were those states?