Society Saturday - General Grant

At a recent joint meeting of three organizations we were honored to be visited by General Ulysses S. Grant himself.  He told us how he doesn't usually like to make speeches but he made an exception for us.

His story focused on his 1863 visit to Washington DC where he met with President Abraham Lincoln to receive his promotion to 3 star general and commander of the entire army.  He explained to Lincoln that he planned to win the Civil War by engaging the Confederate Army at several locations at the same time since the north had the advantage of more men and more supplies.  Lincoln likened his plan to shearing sheep - 4 men to hold the legs while one man does the actual shearing.

His plan worked and soon the south was ready to surrender.  Lincoln agreed with his plan to allow the rebels to keep their horses and mules since they weren't military property, and allow them to return home since the prisons were already full.  They felt that this would help the country heal.

During the surrender ceremony, the confederates laid down their weapons.  The union army actually saluted them as they did so, since they understood all the sacrifices they had made to fight for what they believed in.

He described that there were several aims of victory from the Civil War.  The most well known are re-unification of this country and freeing the slaves.  Other aims were to allow westward expansion via the homestead act and building the railroad- both of which had been placed on hold when money and manpower was diverted to the war effort.  Overall, the Civil War provided a Trial of Democracy that proved our country could endure because of the government system in place.

General Grant was actually portrayed by Larry Werline, a first-person reenactor.

Society Saturday - McAllister's Battery

The Dames of the Court of Honor leaned about the First Illinois Light Artillery Company D (aka McAllister's Battery) from Tina Beaird, Reference Librarian at Plainfield Public Library.  She has researched this company extensively and told some of her findings.

Edward McAllister from Plainfield, IL joined the Union Army as soon as he heard the news of Fort Sumter at church.  Seventy-seven other young also enlisted immediately.  They signed up for "100 days", because of course, everyone thought the war would be over quickly.

Their Company was known for their bravery during the battle of Fort Donaldson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg.  They were in charge of cannon during these battles.

During the battle of Shiloh, McAllister saw the carnage on the field, and soon resigned his commission as Captain so that he could return home to his wife and baby.  He was succeeded by Captain Henry Rogers.  Rogers was killed by a sniper at Vicksburg and was succeeded by Captain Edgar Cooper.

The Battery itself served from April 19, 1861 until July 18, 1865.  They lost relatively few men, but almost all of the survivors suffered from hearing loss due to their proximity to the cannon.

http://www.nsdch.org/

Society Saturday - General George Henry Thomas

The members of the Daughters of Indian Wars and the Dames of the Court of Honor recently met for a joint meeting.  Our speaker was Jerry Kowalski who portrayed General George Henry Thomas.  He spoke about the General's life and service prior to the Civil War.

Unfortunately, my camera wasn't working, but to show you his attire I found a similar picture of him at a previous event he spoke at.

(credit to www.motherrudd.org)

General Thomas was a Virginian who attended West Point.  While there, he became close friends with William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee.

He served in several battles leading up to the Civil War.  These included the Seminole Wars in Florida in 1841 and the Mexican American War in 1845.  He taught artillery and cavalry at West Point in the 1850's which allowed him to select some of the best cadets for his units later. 

When the Civil War broke out, he remained with the Union, feeling that his oath to the Constitution was more important than his native ties to Virginia.  This caused his sisters to disown him.  He commanded the Army at the first Union victory at Mill Springs (Logan's Run) in Kentucky.  He never advanced as far as some of his contemporaries, largely because there was always suspicion about whether he was truly a Union soldier based on his origins.

It was a very interesting program about an early American Military hero that we don't hear much about.

Society Saturday - Illinois in the War of 1812

The John Kinzie chapter of the US Daughters of 1812 recently had a joint meeting with the Illinois Chapter Dames of the Court of Honor.

Our guest speaker was Gillum Ferguson, author of the book "Illinois in the War of 1812".  Gillum has researched events leading up to, and including the War of 1812 as they occurred in the Illinois territory.

 

When many think of the War of 1812, they think of the burning of the White House, Francis Scott Key writing our National Anthem, or maybe some of the ship warfare on the Great Lakes. 

There were actuallly several battles fought in Illinois as well - many of which were Indian uprisings, but there were ties with British forces who encouraged the uprisings.

 

Gillum gave us an informative talk about some of the individual acts of heroism and bravery that are included in his book.

John Kinzie USD1812 President Kimberly Nagy, Guest Speaker Gillum Ferguson, Illinois DCH President Miriam Giebel

http://illinoisdch.homestead.com/

http://usdaughters1812.org/

Society Saturday - Dames of the Court of Honor

Today was the annual meeting of the Illinois Society of the National Society Dames of the Court of Honor.
We met at Tom's Steak House for lunch and a meeting.  We had an interesting program given by Ellen Stortz about "Trees of the White House".  Charter member JosefaLee Hammond reminisced about early days of our chapter.  The 2011-13 officers were installed.

The Motto of this organization is "Noblesse Oblige" which means Rank Carries Obligation.  Membership in this organization requires proof of lineage from a commissioned officer who served in a conflict prior to 1865, which includes several colonial wars, the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Mexican War or Civil War.

My qualifying ancestor is Lieutenant Thomas Leffingwell.  He was born in 1622 in  Croxhall, County Derby, England.  He immigrated to this country by 1637, settling first in Saybrook, CT.  From there he moved to Norwich, CT where he served as their Deputy to the CT Legislature in 1662, 1663, and 1665.  During King Philip's War, he served as Lieutenant.

He married Mary White and they had 7 children.  I descend from his daughter Mary Leffingwell who married Joseph Bushnell.