Lancaster Civil War Round Table

ADVANCE COPIES IN. I am opening for the 1st time the advanced copies of Ed Bearss' Campaign for Vicksburg trilogy. Click the video and watch along with me. We h...ave a handful of sets left so now would be the time to pick one up because they will not be reprinted again. (Copies arrive here third week of May.) CLICK HERE FOR ORDERING INFO: tinyurl.com/2wp34j7n

A friend recently brought an original Civil War cap in for me to restore. Out of the box, I mistook it for an aged reproduction, but then I looked closer and re...alized that it was an authentic private purchase cap in excellent condition. All I needed to do to fix it was to reattach the visor. While working on this cap, I was amazed by all of the little details it contained. It was so well-made with such attention to detail that in its day it would have certainly commanded the highest price. The materials used were the best quality obtainable. The cloth was the finest, tightest, softest woven cloth (with some moth damage), and the leather the softest, thinnest, and most supple I’ve ever seen. I’ve restored many original caps and have seen many techniques of workmanship, but this was extreme. The sweatband was attached with 32 stitches per inch, top and bottom. I had to remove the sweat across where it was attached to the brow in order to reattach the visor, and I hated to do that. The sweat was attached with glue and fine stitches to the lining. Under the lining was a thin padding of wool lint called shoddies, still in place with a band of horsehair and cotton woven together to serve as stiffener. The bottom of the cap, all around, up the back seam, and around the disk, had a whalebone and reed stiffener. The cut of the cap was such that when the wearer placed it on his head it had a shape that didn’t really require any stiffening. There was no extra fabric to wrinkle. On the front of the cap was an embroidered bugle on cotton velvet with quarter-inch white metal number one in its center. The cap had a six-inch disk of Fuller’s board. The lining was polished cotton with a quilted top. The chin strap and commercial visor were imported and similar to those I’ve seen from France. The underside of the still very shiny lacquered visor was covered with an extremely thin piece of hatch-marked dark green leather. I wish I could find leather as thin and supple. I plan to reproduce this cap and know that it’s going to be a real challenge to my skills. It must have been made by a master tailor with the highest skills and the eyesight of a youngster or eyeglasses with serious magnification. It will take me awhile to source all of the materials I need to reproduce a cap of this quality, and to recreate all of the many details that went into this beautiful cap. I’d love to know about the maker of this cap. She or he was a true master.

For Fort Sumter 160 here is the best summary of the place and what happened there I could do with only three minutes to spare during the 2017 #ImageofWar seminar in Charleston!

Zoom Interview with Scott Hartwig "Reflections on Gettysburg Day One" and his April 30-May 2 Tour View Robert Jenkins' January 27th interview here: https://youtu.be/MBbqo7do3TM... Join Executive Director Len Riedel as he interviews historian Scott Hartwig about his Outstanding career as senior historian at the Gettysburg NMP and his fabulous emerging scholarship on the 1862 Maryland Campaign. Hartwig recently retired after a career in the National Park Service based primarily at Gettysburg. With his work on the 1862 Maryland Campaign he may be the nation's leading scholar on Lee's two northern raids (1862 and 1863). He will lead BGES participants on a consolidated and rescheduled program based out of Gettysburg April 30-May 2. With 30 people already registered for the field study we can only support perhaps 10 more. Visit our website if you would like to register--if COVID is still a problem we have a back up date in either July or October. This interview will probe Scott's interest and insights at this most prominent of all Civil War battlefields. He will answer questions from the audience after the interview ends--the program is 60 minutes and free of charge--you must register in advance. Attendance is limited. Wednesday, February 3rd at 8 PM EST Email [email protected] to register. Registration closes at 6 PM Eastern Tuesday, February 2nd or when the cohort is full. Log in information will be emailed to registrants around 9 PM eastern on Tuesday that is your formal admission ticket. No registration--no entry to conference. This is the fifth of a weekly series of interviews and lectures sponsored by BGES. Gordon Rhea will be February 10th. See you there

3+ years ago, a quick visit to a rarely-visited Gettysburg monument. Warning: if fast panning makes you sick, look away!

Greetings from sunny but chilly Gettysburg! This handsome fellow stopped by my window to say hello and asked that I extend his invitation to visit the park to all of you! He does suggest that you wear your warmest mittens.

Veterans coming to Gettysburg for the 1913 Reunion. Man, the thought of merely sitting in their camps or walking the battlefield with them is practically intox...icating! To them, it was just their lives and experiences--to us today, we ponder so much that became rather commonplace to them, as future generations will doubtless do for all the inaccessible generations before them. I hadn't intended on getting all philosophical tonight. :) https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ggbain.13834/ See more

The officer profiled here went to the Spangler Farm. A story you have not heard at Gettysburg. Unpublished and new research!

"Civil War Photo Extravaganza: Details, Daredevils, and Discoveries," as only Garry Adelman, chief historian for the American Battlefield Trust, can. On YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/vQ3G8ozFCd4

Not Civil War but very cool video from our friend Rob Gibson. Enjoy exploring!!

Hershey Civil War Roundtable January 21st Zoom Meeting - Raid, Murder & Retribution: The Weldon RR Raid of Dec. 1864, Speaker George Duetsch Topic: Hershey Civil War Roundtable Monthly Meeting... Time: Jan 21, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87495790747 Meeting ID: 874 9579 0747 Passcode: 072518

What do you think? Creepy or cool?

21 seconds at the approximate boyhood home of Thomas J. Jackson, Weston, WV, on the recent American Battlefield Trust western video swing!