The Isaac Eaton Camp, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the re-enactors of the 150th PA Volunteer "Bucktail" Regiment have begun a "poster project" to help educate today's public to the history, heroism, and sacrifice of Civil War veterans from Western Pennsylvania. It is hoped the posters will be prominently featured at area libraries, summer living history displays, school classrooms, local cemeteries, and at patriotic organizations. Here are several examples featuring the history of the Bucktail Brigade. More such posters are being planned that will concentrate on soldiers from Erie County's three main regiments. If you'd like to sponsor or get involved in this program contact Tim Bennet (bennett6305@yahoo.com) or Jack Bovee (JSBovee@aol.com). Contact Jack if you'd like to either check out any of these for your classroom or to have full image PDFs or JPEGs sent to you. It is hoped several compote sets of posters will be available soon! We'll post samples here from time to time so stay tuned!
(Above: From the SUVCW Poster set on Andersonville; Available for school checkout)
Attached below is a list of the men from Erie County's three main Civil War Regiments that were confined for some time to Andersonville Prison in Georgia. In the XCEL file, those whose names have highlighted information were the men who survived or were moved out of Andersonville. Those unhighlighted names are the men who are known to have been buried in the national cemetery at Andersonville. By researching the local men who are highlighted and conducting a name search for them in the NEWSBANK files within the older newspapers from Erie County, qw can hopefully discover some of their stories from the past.
One on the six men who was condemned by his peers to be a murderous "Raider"--and who was hanged for his predatory activities upon the weak--was a former deserter from the 83rd PA VOL REGIMENT (the "Strong Vincent Regiment"). Patrick Delaney was convicted along with five other principal leaders of the Raiders, and is buried apart from the thousands of Union soldiers who lost their lives at the prison.
A few of the surviving veterans were asked to share their stories by local newspapers in the decades following the Civil War. We hope to share their names and stories in future posts to this website. Those interested in accessing the XCEL list of Andersonville inmates from the 83rd, 111th and 145th Regiments can do so "HERE." We'll be adding the names of those from the "Bucktail Regiments" a bit to the south of Erie County at a future date.
The Southwest Florida Civil War Roundtable (Naples, Ft. Myers)--after a thorough investigation--saw fit to send to its Congressional delegation (Rep. Daniels, Senators Rubio & Scott) the following letter as to why the "Naming Commission" of the Department of Defense is wrong to secure the removal of the Confederate memorial in Arlington Cemetery. Chief among their reasons is that far from being thought of as divisive today, that memorial was designed and celebrated as a symbol of national UNITY at the time. Virtually all Americans, including each and every one of our Presidents for many decades afterward thought so. Should we today, in another time of disunity and division, remove what was conceived in the early 1900s as an instrument to unite us as a people? This effort is an especially contentious proposal in light of today's Pentagon being itself a cause of disunity within our nation. Its massive indoctrination of "white privilege," "Critical Race Theory," and its view--based upon little evidence--that "white supremacy" poses the greatest threat to our nation is very likely the reason recruitment is at an all time low! Note that our military is weaker today than ever and it does not consider Russian or Chineses attempts to weaken our military, our nation, or our people's resolve. The very top Pentagon spokesperson for diversity has repeatedly referred wo our nation's white population in what can only be described as racist terms, yet the woman faces no criticism from her superiors.
Few Americans are aware that the family of U.S. Grant held a Black female slave belonging this his wife throughout his campaigning with the army and for months AFTER the Emancipation Proclamation. Robert E. Lee, on the other hand, had not only freed approximately 200 slaves of his wife's family but paid for their education and even their repatriation. to Liberia, Africa, if they so choose. (Only 2 of approximately 200 of his slaves chose to return to Africa. What would today's leaders of Diversity and Equity explain that?)
For more details and still other reasons for their position on this divisive proposal, please refer to the Roundtable's letter "HERE." To review the life and contributions of Robert E. Lee as an American as well as a defense of him against the common charge of his "racism" and "treason" we recommend the following Powerpoint "HERE." (Well over 25 sources were consulted for this Powerpoint and the "Notes" section for each slide contains additional information. For a PDF version [will not have access to the 'notes'] click "HERE."
