Foundation Blog

Week two of “7 Weeks, 7 Veterans, 7 Objects” brought us the story of Brig. Gen. Cassius Fairchild, an officer with the 16th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Fairchild led his men into battle at Shiloh in April 1862, and was severely wounded, keeping him from duty until early 1863. He returned to his regiment and stayed through the end of the war, eventually becoming a Colonel and commanding the unit during the latter stages of the war. Fairchild died in 1868, reinjuring his war wound while serving as a pall bearer for a friend’s funeral.

The starting lineup:

1. Hat (V1998.1.36) - Black fur felt, regulation enlisted uniform hat (1858 pattern) made by Warnock & Co., the first company to receive a contract to produce hats for the military. Black oilcloth label glued to the top of the crown with Cassius’ name affixed to the label. This hat is interesting because of the hat cord. Most officer’s hats had a black silk and gold wire cord, but this has a black-and-gold wool cord, which closely resembles an enlisted man’s cord.

2. Coat (V1995.25.34) - Dark blue wool, double-breasted frock coat.

3. Vest (V1995.25.79) - Buff colored wool vest with cotton lining and backing. “Cassius Fairchild, 16th Wis. Vols.” written inside the left portion of the vest.

4. Trousers (V1998.1.339) - Dark blue wool broadcloth officer’s trousers originally attributed to Lucius Fairchild, but WVM curators deemed them to be too large to be worn by him. All of Cassius’ objects donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society by Mrs. Lucius Fairchild in 1914, and there has been much confusion to as which articles belonged to each brother.

5. Baton (V1998.1.580) - Marshal’s baton used by General Cassius Fairchild during July 4, 1866 parade in downtown Madison. Governor Lucius Fairchild organized the parade to commemorate the end of the Civil War and to show the strength of Wisconsin’s Civil War veterans. Nearly 20,000 people attended the parade, the highlight of which was the presentation of the regimental and national battle flags to the state. A color guard of veterans from each Wisconsin regiment carried the flags. The baton is wood, painted white, and decorated with red, white, and blue silk ribbons, and gold paper glued to each end. The “Order of Procession” for the parade is also glued to the baton. General Lysander Cutler (6th Wisconsin, Iron Brigade) commanded the First Division, which included state officials (governor, cabinet members, supreme court justices, UW regents), disabled soldiers, and the battle flags. General Cassius Fairchild commanded the Second Division, which featured local officials such as the mayor, the fire department, the city’s brass band, the “mounted Butcher’s Association.”

6. Chest (V1998.1.43.1a,b) - Wooden liquor chest privately purchased by Cassius Fairchild in St. Louis between March 13 and March 18, 1862. Chest manufactured by Warne Cheever & Co., which had a six-story storefront and factory in downtown St. Louis. The company made chests for hotels, steamboats, and house furnishings, but also camp chests and field desks for military officers. The chest is painted a deep Prussian blue (almost cobalt) and has black steel fixtures. Contained in the chest are five liquor bottles (orignally six), five whiskey tumblers, nutmeg nuts, sugar cubes, a cordial glass, two wine glasses, a spoon, and. a cork screw. If you closely examine this photo taken before Shiloh, you can see a partially full liquor bottle - I wonder if this is the missing bottle?

7. Regimental flag, 16th Wisconsin Volunteers. This flag was issued to the regiment by Governor Louis Harvey on December 30, 1861. Coincidentally, Harvey drowned in the Tennessee River after visiting Wisconsin troops decimated at the Battle of Shiloh. Cassius Fairchild returned this flag, along with the regiment’s national flag, to Governor Lewis in early 1864 while on furlough. The regiment was issued new flags that they carried through the rest of the war. Currently, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum has the first issue regimental, and the seond issue regimental and national flags, but the first issue national flag is missing. Anyone know where it might be?

Two blog posts in a week - must be some kind of record!

As some of you may know, we are undertaking another series of artifact-based lectures this summer. Last year we did “7 Wars,” while this year we are doing “7 Veterans.” We have had two successful programs so far and hopeful that holds true throughout the rest of the series.

For those of you who missed out, we will recap what artifacts each speaker presented. Sadly, we don’t have pictures of them (soon!), but we will describe the provenance of each object. So, for week one, Reference Archivist Russ Horton took on General Charles King, who served in five campaigns from the Civil War through World War I - a military career that spanned from 1861 to 1918!

“7 Weeks, 7 Veterans, 7 Objects - Week One”
General Charles King, United States Army and Wisconsin National Guard
1844-1933

The starting lineup:

1) M1917 Officer’s Coat (V1999.1.268.1)- This coat tells the story of King’s service, from the Wisconsin National Guard collar insignia and wound chevron on the right sleeve to the five campaign ribbons (Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine War, World War I) that only King earned the right to wear.

2) M1881 Cavalry Helmet (V1995.27.304a-c)- Featuring a buffalo hair plume and ornate gold wire details, King wore this helmet for dress occasions while serving with the 5th U.S. Cavalry during the Indian Wars.

3) Buckskin Riding Trousers (V1999.1.1)- A gift from “Buffalo Bill” Cody, King wore these beaded buckskin trousers in the field while serving in Wyoming and the Dakotas with the 5th U.S. Cavalry.

4) Novels (Library)- As storied a military career as he had, King was at least as well known to the nation as a writer, as evidenced by his many published books, both fiction and non-fiction.

5) Epaulettes (V1995.26.145a,b)- King wore these epaulettes while serving in the Philippines to reflect his rank of brigadier general.

6) Gruen Wrist Watch (V2000.46.1)- This gold wrist watch was presented to King by a regiment of the Wisconsin State Guard in appreciation of his stateside service during World War I.

7) General Charles King Camp No. 44 Flag (V2002.64.1)- A group of Spanish-American War veterans located at the Wisconsin Veterans Home named their camp after Charles King while he was alive, indicating the regard with which the state held him. The village in which the Wisconsin Veterans Home is located was renamed King in his honor in 1941.

http://eyesofthearmy.dva.state.wi.us

2008 marks the 90th Anniversary of the end of World War I. To commemorate this important historical moment in American history as well as the central role of Wisconsin’s veterans in the conflict, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum presents, “Eyes of the Army: The Life and Letters of World War I Aerial Observer Lt. Mortimer M. Lawrence.” This new online exhibit follows the service of 1st Lt. Mortimer M. Lawrence, a native of Beaver Dam, as he travels from basic training camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois to the skies above war-ravaged Europe as a member of the 104th Aero Squadron. Participating in daring and dangerous aerial reconnaissance missions along the Western Front, Lawrence not only received the Silver Star for bravery, but is credited with shooting down the last German aircraft of World War I. A prolific writer, Lawrence recorded his experiences of Army life from May 1917 to May 1919 in the numerous and detailed letters he sent home to friends and family. Eyes of the Army, which will showcase nearly the entire Lawrence Collection over the course of the next two years, publishes each letter as well as any accompanying photographs or materials 90 years from the day they were written, giving viewers the impression that they are experiencing Lawrence’s day-by-day adventures in real-time. These documents contain a plethora of information and offer viewers a truly firsthand account of what life was like for a World War I flyer. Utilizing new technologies and especially the Internet to make history more accessible to people everywhere, Eyes of the Army is an exciting new exhibit.

The show aired on C-Span this past Sunday, and I totally forgot to tell you all about it. So, instead, I offer the web link - I hope it works!

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9367&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=No

If this one does not work, try the Wisconsin Eye link instead (scroll down to April 22):

http://www.wiseye.org/wisEye_programming/ARCHIVES-bks.html

As the days go by in May, the further away from the Civil War we travel. But, we will not travel far and the “War Between the States” will not be far from our minds as we enter the back half of 2008. Preparations are underway for “Talking Spirits X: Forest Hill Cemetery Tour,” which again will feature a Civil War theme and a solid docket of characters featuring both soldiers and civilians alike. Public tours will be held on Sunday, October 5. 2009 figures to be an interesting year for the Veterans Museum, as we will open our new Iraq/Afghanistan exhibit in February and begin a substantial Civil War/Abraham Lincoln program series to honor the 200th birthday of this great president. Lest we forget, the completion of Bracketology is almost upon us as well.

We were extremely happy with our Civil War lecture series. Through 17 programs, our total attendance is up nearly 33% over last year at the time. We were going to take the summer off, but since you all like what we are doing, we decided to stick it out and put together some more events for you! A complete list will be in the next Bugle and will also come out on a postcard (look for it in early June), but for now, here’s what is on tap…

Thursday, June 26 - Noon
“Wisconsin Korean War Stories” - discussion with the authors, Sarah Larson and Jennifer Miller, and a handful of Korean War veterans

Thursday, July 24 - Noon
“Hitchhiking From Vietnam” - discussion with the author, Richard Chamberlin

Thursday, July 31 - Noon
“Homefront 1967″ - a film by National Education Television about how the Vietnam War affected the residents of Charlottesville, Virginia (B&W, 60 minutes)

We are also going to rekindle the “7 Weeks, 7 Wars, 7 Objects” series with a new twist and a new traveling exhibit set to open on July 1. More on those later!

Well, we are down to the last week and final two programs of the spring season. It has been quite successful from both an attendance and content perspective. Our attendance is up a wee bit over last season, but I think the quality of our lectures has improved dramatically, with Chandra Manning and Dale Van Atta as standout performers so far. We will be announcing our summer schedule very soon, which will include the 2008 version of “7 Weeks, 7 Wars, 7 Objects” (we are putting a new spin on it this time around) and two temporary exhibits on Vietnam (July 1) and Iraq/Afghanistan (September 15). Until then, we hope that you can make the events on Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon, both of which should be very interesting and entertaining. And no, the Glatthaar-Kelsey Experience is not a acid-folk supergroup from the early 70s, although, it would be interesting to host an acid-folk supergroup in the Education Center every once in a while, wouldn’t it?

General Lee’s Army: From Victory to Collapse
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 – 7:00 p.m.
Joseph Glatthaar, Stephenson Distinguished Professor of History, University of North Carolina
Lecture and book signing

Despite nearly 150 years of scholarship about the Army of Northern Virginia, Joseph Glatthaar, using an impressive range of primary sources and statistical databases, has rewritten and reconsidered the story of the Civil War’s most important army. From Manassas to Appomattox, Glatthaar examines how Lee’s army almost led to the South to victory, and, conversely, why it lost.

A 2008 Distinguished Lecture Series Event
Presented in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of History and the Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE)

Cadwallader Washburn’s War Behind the Lines
Friday, May 2, 2008 – Noon
Kerck Kelsey, historian
Lecture and discussion

Discover the remarkable story of Major General Cadwallader C. Washburn, the commanding officer of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry during the Civil War. Washburn served in the West, seeing action at Vicksburg, Helena, and Pea Ridge, and later became Commander of the Military District of Western Tennessee. In this capacity, Washburn battled with cotton speculators and crooked Treasury agents, and was even chased down a Memphis street by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalrymen! After the war, Washburn became a two-term Congressman and Governor of Wisconsin, and made millions as one of the founders of General Mills in Minneapolis.

Many thanks to those of you that made it down to the Museum for David Blight’s lecture on Friday afternoon. Despite some bad intel that resulted in a premature cancellation that was later rescinded, nearly five dozen loyal patrons showed up. Blight delivered a fantastic lecture on his new book,  A Slave No More. Focusing on the narratives of two escaped slaves - one from Virginia in 1862, one from Alabama in 1864 - Blight tells the story of how each of these men rose from the cruel chains of slavery to middle class status in the North in the years following the Civil War. Even more remarkable is that that Blight found these narratives, two of only about 40 that still exist, and was able to trace back the men and women listed in the text, from Civil War soldiers that assisted them to the slave traders that bought and sold them. The stat that just blew me away was that the Richmond slave trader mentioned in the text made, on average, $19,000 per week in the slave trade in 1859, with a daily high of $95,000! In today’s dollars, the total worth of all slaves in the South would be close to $80 billion!

Many thanks to Dr. Blight for speaking at the Veterans Museum and we all hope that can make a return trip sometime in the future.

Don’t forget to stop in for Joseph Glatthaar’s lecture on Tuesday evening!

WISCONSIN IN THE CIVIL WAR

REGIMENTAL BRACKETOLOGY – THE FINAL FOUR!

As promised, the staff of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum will finally answer this very difficult question: What is the “best” Wisconsin Civil War regiment? This, of course, is a loaded question guaranteed to spark a lot of heated debate. While everyone has their own personal opinion, we will use both objective (quanitifed data) and subjective (anecdotal evidence) factors to come our conclusion.

Instead of arbitrarily deciding the best, we decided to pit the regiments against one another in a 32-regiment, NCAA basketball tournament-style, single elimination bracket. See the attached bracket for what happened in the first few rounds. For the game-by-game breakdowns, look back at the blog entries from last summer or check out the entire bracket at: http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=225774

The Process:
The philosophy behind this endeavor, to quote Lt. Col. William F. Fox, is the following:
“Where the musketry was the hottest, the dead lay the thickest.” (122)
Fox, author of Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865, believed that the proper way to judge the overall strength of a Civil War regiment is to look at the number of losses, as well as the percentages of casualties within a given unit. These units encountered some of the hardest fighting of the entire war. This is not a statement on how well they fought or their bravery.

Using two factors Fox lays out in his treatise - the Number Killed or Died of Wounds (KDW) and the Percentage Killed or Died of Wounds, Maximum Percentages of Enrollment (KDWMPE) - and two additional factors created by WVM staff, we now present the REGIMENTAL POWER INDEX (RPI). The RPI will be used to select and seed the 32 regiments participating in the tournament, and as one of many factors used to determine the winners in each match-up.
REGIMENTAL POWER INDEX FORMULA
35% Number Killed or Died of Wounds (KDW)*
35% Percentage Killed or Died of Wounds, Max Percentage of Enrollment (KDWMPE)*
20% Number of months in service (MIS)**
10% Percentage Died of Disease (PDD)***

Examples:
7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
KDW: 281 (#1); 1 x 0.35 = 0.35
KDWMPE: 17.2% (#3); 3 x 0.35 = 1.05
MIS: 46 months (tied, #7); 7 x 0.20 = 1.40
PDD: 130 (#23); 23 x 0.10 = 2.30
TOTAL: 5.10
SEED: #1

17th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
KDW: 41 (#32); 32 x 0.35 = 11.20
KDWMPE: 2.45% (#29); 29 x 0.35 = 10.15
MIS: 40 months (tied, #15); 15 x 0.20 - 3.00
PDD: 228 (#12); 12 x 0.10 = 1.20
TOTAL: 25.55
SEED: #30

*Information pulled from:
Fox, William F. Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865, 4th Ed. Albany, N.Y.: Joseph A. McDonough, 1898.
Quiner, E.B. The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union. Chicago: Clarke & Company Publishers, 1866.
Maximum enrollment numbers for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 16th, 26th, 36th, and 37th Volunteer Infantry Regiments pulled from Fox; all other maximum enrollments come from Quiner (published maximum numbers minus veteran re-enlistment numbers, when available; Fox seemingly did not include re-enlistments - or regimental bands - in his tallies).
**Time calculated from muster in to muster out; ranked by number of months in service. There are ties - each tied unit receives ranking points.
***Disease numbers varied greatly by source. Because of inconsistency, the PDD is only 10% of the RPI. http://www.secondwi.com/wisconsininthecivilwar/wisconsi.htm

When we ceased this project late last summer, we were left with an incredible elite eight regiments. Frankly, time got away from us and we just haven’t found any spare moments to go back and finish. The matchups at that point were:
(1) 7th IR v. (8) 1st IR
(4) 3rd IR v. (5) 2nd IR
(3) 6th IR v. (6) 26th IR
(2) 5th IR v. (10) 21st IR
After some internal discussions and occasional fisticuffs, we settled on these four regiments for the FINAL FOUR!

THE CONTENDERS!

Matchup #1:
(1) 7th Volunteer Infantry Regiment v. (5) 2nd Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The tale of the tape:
7th IR
KDW: 1, KDWMPE: 3, MIS: 7, PDD: 23; Iron Brigade; member of Fox’s “Fighting 300″; 281 KDW is #6 nationally of all units; fought in all campaigns of the Army of the Potomac

2nd IR
KDW: 3, KDWMPE: 1, MIS: 22, PDD: 30; Iron Brigade; greatest KDWMPE of any unit nationally (19.7%); participated in all battles for the Army of the Potomac; one of Fox’s “Fighting 300 Regiments”

Matchup #2:
(2) 5th Volunteer Infantry Regiment v. (6) 26th Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The tale of the tape:
5th IR
KDW: 4, KDWMPE: 7, MIS; 2, PDD: 26; one of Fox’s “Fighting 300 Regiments”; Peninsular Campaign under George McClellan; Centerville VA; Antietam; Gettysburg, Wilderness, Petersburg, Shenandoah Valley, Richmond, Appomattox; part of the famous Sixth Corps

26th IR
KDW: 5, KDWMPE: 2, MIS; 22, PDD: 27; one of Fox’s “Fighting 300 Regiments”; 17.2% KDWMPE is 5th nationally; Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, March to the Sea, Carolinas Campaign

I will be breaking down the 2nd IR v. 7th IR matchup, while guest bracketologist Russ Horton will tackle the 5th IR v. 26th IR battle. The finals will be a spirited debate between the two of us.

Check www.wvmfoundation.com/blog for updates and the eventual winner!

Only a few days left to check out “In the Belly of the Dragon: Life and Death in I Corps,” so be sure to stop by the museum. Components of the exhibit appear to be headed to our satellite institution, the Wisconsin National Guard Museum at Volk Field, about 75 miles north of Madison in Camp Douglas. The whole show is not going to make it up there, but a good part of it will. More on the installation and the scheduled opening when we find out what it might be!

While “Dragon” is coming down, “An Instinct for Light: The Photography of Robert Ellison” will remain on display until June 15, 2008. A new Vietnam-themed traveling show will debut in the Changing Exhibits Gallery on July 1 - more on this in the coming weeks - and an Iraq/Afghanistan photography exhibit will open in early September and run through the end of November. Following that show, we will begin installing our new semi-permanent show, “Faces in the Sand,” which opens in mid-February 2009. We have begun developing the narrative for the show, collecting items from recently returned vets, and setting up oral histories for the show, so things are progressing nicely.

Go Badgers!

As many of you know, our wonderful Vietnam exhibit, “In the Belly of the Dragon: Life and Death in I Corps” closes on March 31. I hope that you can make it in for the first or last time before then. All of us are going to miss having the show in the galleries - it is a living testament to the men and women that served during the Vietnam War and it has provided many vets a chance to reconnect with one another and find some closure to a trying time in their lives. As long as our visitors continue to support our Vietnam-themed exhibits and programs, we will keep doing them, so be on the lookout for more in the near future.

One Vietnam program already scheduled is “Echoes from Vietnam - The Literature of War” featuring author Alfredo Vea (Gods Go Begging) and poet W.D. Ehrhart. Both men served in the Vietnam War and are brilliant writers. We have been looking foward to this event all winter and I think it will prove to be fantastic. The program begins at 7pm; both writers will read from their respective works and then will answer audience questions. The Veterans Museum is proud to present this event in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Integrated Liberal Studies Program.

One final Vietnam-related tidbit…
Wisconsin Public Television has begun filming for its new documentary seriers, “Wisconsin Vietnam Stories,” which will hit the airwaves (in HD!) in early 2010. They have completed a handful of interviews to this point and have placed a sneak preview of the program on You Tube. Please pass this link along to anyone you think would be interested. The stories told in this 2:30 segment are incredibly moving.

Here is the link: Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories Sneak Preview

 In case you were wondering, my Final Four is North Carolina, WISCONSIN, UCLA, and Memphis, with Carolina knocking off UCLA in the final game. I will be happy if UW just  makes through the first weekend. Good luck Badgers!