Campbell County Civil War Soldiers Book Update

 Time flies, at least the last few weeks, and I did not realize it had been so long since my last book update. I am still working on a couple more genealogical posts, but wanted to put down at least a few words on my continued progress in the Campbell County Civil War Soldiers. (It will include sailors, but I just use Campbell County Civil War Soldiers to refer to it for brevity's sake.) 

I am still working on it and plowing through names, trying to find more that fit on my list. I have about 1,200 confirmed Union soldiers now (a few dozen Confederates, but I honestly haven't worked on that side much in recent months, though it is still part of the plan.)  My progress has slowed down, of course, as the most obvious sources dry up and I now look for other sources. I'm currently trying to dig through the list of the men of the 23rd Kentucky Infantry. I have about 120+ of them on my confirmed list so far, but still find a couple more each week. I probably need to do the same with the 53rd Kentucky. I think I have about 140 from that regiment, but need to get that unit on a spreadsheet like I have with the 23rd and go through it name by name, a painstaking, but I think, worthwhile, process.  A couple of local home guard units are still on my lists to search. 

I also just realized that Jim Reis, a deceased local historian whom I've mentioned before, left some of his research files at the Campbell County Historical Society and those files include folders of his Civil War research, so I need to dig through those pages too in the search of more names. A quick glance dhows some of his notes and some printouts of period newspaper articles.

I realize that I will never find every single name that meets my qualifications, but I am enjoying the search and am hopeful that if I can finish my project, maybe somebody else in the future will improve upon it and uncover more names and sources. Perhaps looking through microfilm records of more Cincinnati newspapers of the time is one area I need to pursue. The Hamilton County Library is not that far from me and they have a large microfilm collection. 

I am finding quite a few whose only ties to Campbell County were that they enlisted in Newport, usually at the Newport Barracks. I will not include these in my main project because I am not convinced that is enough of a connection to the county, but I have got 120 or so names on a list that I am trying to keep for curiosity's sake. I am sure there are many more of these men out there, though where to look for them is tough question, but if I stumble across any while doing my research I am trying to record their names (after I check to make sure I cannot find any other county ties to them.)  This information might be handy to somebody some day, maybe in telling the story of the Barracks.

I am also getting quite a few of my "stories" done. I have about 60 of them in the "almost done" category - I believe my research, note-taking, organizing and writing of then are virtually complete, though I may go back to change a style on them - I recently decided to add page numbers on each page and I am currently starting to research which fonts would be best. I also have occasionally found additional information on a soldier from an unexpected source, such as research on another soldier, so I have had a few instances where I added the new details to the story, but all-in-all, for these, the main work is done and I am happy with how they are (though I always reserve the right to nitpick them, of course.) 

I have several more of these mini-biographies that are in progress. For some, the research is done and I just need to organize the information into a readable story, while others are still in the research and note-taking phase. I also have a list of more names whose stories might be worth exploring too, but I have not started those yet.  

Some of these tales are longer than others and I have not gone back and done the  math, but I suspect the average story is about 600 words, so for 60 of these documents, that means I have written about 36,000 words, which kind of blows my mind, especially with more to go. That seems like a lot of work to me, and it is, at least compared to what I have previously done for just one project, but it has not felt like work. I guess that is because it is a personal project and I can take my time doing it, with no hard-set deadlines. It is still enjoyable to me. I know many people like to refer to soldiers as ‘heroes,” and i understand that, but these men (and 1 woman) were just normal people too, with normal families, lives, and occasionally recorded problems. There are many good stories waiting to be found and shared. 

I have also started experimenting with an idea for a website where I could upload the list of names, their military information and their genealogical data, but my web-designing knowledge is even more miniscule than I realized, even using WordPress or Wix. I'll probably keep trying this again soon, but finding the information and writing the stories are my bigger priorities right now.

Working on my project

Work on my book project has been a bit spotty this week due to various appointments and other tasks, but I’m still making progress confirming Campbell County Civil War soldiers and even some more birth/death dates and burial places. I’ve even found one whose cause of death was ‘suicide by hanging.” It happened in 1888, but I wonder if that soldier suffered from what we today call PTSD. Whether it was or was not, it still is a sad story.

I have also started writing a draft of an introduction for the book, or at least getting some basic comments on it in full sentences and paragraphs instead of just notes. Work on it has just begun, but it is nice to have it started with some organization and development of  how I want that section to read.

Furthermore, I  created a list of soldiers and sailor names whose stories I want to share. For some of these, I have even started dome basic writing and note-taking, based on previous stories I have written or sources I know I want to use. There will be more of these than I had expected, but they will likely be the heart of the book. The list of names will hopefully be useful to researchers and maybe genealogists, but I suspect the individual stories will determine how much interest people might have in this book, so I want these to be interesting, and, of course, well-written. 

Like with the introduction, I’m glad to have this part at least started, giving me a sign of come progress and helping me start to see how much writing lies ahead. Many details await, such as if I want to divide these into chapters based on certain topics like casualties of war or just list them alphabetically.

It is not much, but it is progress, and I am still enjoying it.

I also must say that going through so many individual records is a different way of learning about the war than just reading books about battles or famous personalities. I wish I had started research like this much earlier. It is a fascinating experience, at least so far. 

A New, Big, (Crazy?) Project

Something I have thought about for a while but never could commit to was to write a book - an actual and real non-fiction book, with my name as author. The thought lived in the back of my mind for several years, but I never could figure out the right topic that would catch my interest enough to convince me to do all the work that such a project takes. I never was going to just put some words on paper just to say I had authored a book - I needed a topic that captured my passion and my interest and that would not be a fleeting idea that would bore me after a few weeks or so. If I was going to make such a goal, I was going to go all-in on it. 

I think I have finally found the right topic - Campbell County, Kentucky Civil War Soldiers, Sailors and Their Stories. That is the working title, subject to change, of the project I have started pursuing. It still is in the early stages of research and I realize that it will take possibly 1-2 more years to research and write (perhaps even longer, if my research is successful) but the general idea is to identify as many Civil War Soldiers who had some connection to Campbell County as I can find. By "connection," I currently mean "born in, lived in, died in or are buried in" my home county, but I have found a few names that might lead me to expand that. I have found a few names of men who served in this county - probably at the Newport Barracks - but did not meet the criteria I had established, and even more men whose widows lived here some time after their husbands had passed away. I have seen a couple of names of men who enlisted in this county but had no other ties to it, while some men were Confederate supporters or public sympathizers, but not actual soldiers. Some of these men had interesting stories,  so do I expand my definition of "connection" to this county and include them? Maybe I can create a separate chapter or section for such people. That is a tough decision I will need to make, though probably just one of many.

After identifying as many of these soldiers and sailors (both Yankees and Rebels) as I can, I will then compile some stories about their lives and careers. I already have a couple dozen ideas for possible stories - some I have published here on this blog in the past - and will likely find more. 

The first part of the proposed book would include these stories, combining Civil War history with some local history and maybe a few bits of genealogy sprinkled in along the way. My hope is that these stories, both military and human-interest ones, would interest readers and provide both information and entertainment. I have found stories of soldiers who were wounded, killed and/or captured in battles both famous and obscure, and others who had interesting civilian lives. A few of these tales might be fairly short and others longer, as I try to focus on the more interesting pieces of their lives snd not detailed genealogy or more mundane tidbits. Some of these men had fascinating lives both in and out of the military. 

After a section of these stories, the last part of the book would be a list of all the names I found, with the men's names, unit, company and rank included. Ideally, I would also add as much birth, death and burial information as I can find, but I do not know how much space that will require. My first thought is that these lists would be in a spreadsheet format, but maybe I could write out this information in mini-paragraphs for each soldier, though that would require many more words and, perhaps, pages. That is another decision I will need to finalize in the future as I would like this work to be both an enjoyable read and a benefit to researchers. Can I  make both those ends meet in one book? 

I have created a virtual cemetery on findagrave to keep track of the men whose final resting placesI have found. It currently has just over 500 graves on it, but I have more names for which I am still searching burial places, so hopefully that number increases. 

Of the ones I've already included, there may be a couple that are not 100% proven to be Civil War veterans. If they had the same name as a soldier I have confirmed and are in a logically located cemetery, I may have included them already, especially if the record showed birth and/or death dates that fit the right timeframe but I still have a some of these for which I want to go back and confirm burial places. Hopefully the ones like that included here are few and far between, but if anybody finds any errors, please let me know by email or in the comments section.

Of course, what to do when I have gathered, organized and put this information in a book format is the big question. First are the formatting questions. Do I need to be prepared to do endnotes or footnotes instead of just typing up one big story? Will I need to index it? I know that's a difficult task that even well-known and frequent authors consider to be a challenge. I also have found several photos on findagrave and other websites, but my current preference is for the book to be text only so that I do not have to determine who owns those photos snd then get permission to use them. Perhaps I could use my own photos of headstones or even sites associated with these men. 

Then, will anybody want to publish this? Do I just send letters to publishers to gauge interest?  Will I need to pay to self-publish it?  Will it end up as a digital format, such as a webpage?  I am sure there are more issues I will face at that time (and while I am still researching this) but I am convinced that I am willing to face those when the time comes. I began my research several weeks ago, have found a lot of information so far, and am enjoying it. It remains a labor of love for me and I am more confident that I will see this through to the end. That is why I have not mentioned this previously, but am ready to post this now.  

The research - both in confirming names that meet my (evolving?) criteria and in finding stories that I think are worth sharing - has been enjoyable and I have remained motivated to continue it. I am optimistic that I will maintain those feelings and that attitude.

Of course, as I throw myself into such a long, labor-intensive project, I realize my time for researching and writing this blog may decrease, but maybe I can use this blog to "test-write" some of the information I find. For instance, the recent posts I made about Foster and Israel Sellers are among the ideas I would like to include in the book.

I can also utilize this site to post updates on my progress or maybe express frustration or just to get some thoughts off my chest from time-to-time. I do not know how exactly this project will affect this blog, but I do not intend to close this blog, even if I post less often. Shutting this down is not an option.

                                                                                                         

March 4, 1865: Lincoln's Second Inaugural

Whether this speech or the Gettysburg Address is the better speech is something I've pondered more than once. I cannot say I have ever decided either way. I did like Ronald White's book Lincoln's Greatest Speech about this inaugural and accepted that viewpoint, but further readings of the few appropriate comments in Pennsylvania have made me less certain. It's a tough call, perhaps one I'll try again to make someday, but this post is just about the 1865 speech, which is definitely worth another reading and some additional thought.

I have underlined a few phrases that I especially like and added some comments. I am sure my choices and thoughts are not uncommon, but I wish to point them out anyway, at least to exercise my own mind.There is just a lot of very good writing in this speech.

Fellow countrymen:

At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 

(It would have been easy - and justifiable - for Lincoln to emphasize a highly positive view of the military situation, but this more conservative approach is very effective. It sets the tone for the rest of the speech as a series of mainly logical thoughts and comments, including some optimism, instead of a standard political rally. Perhaps more examples of the approach he chose would be nice to see today.)

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the Inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. 

(The compare and contrast strategy impresses me here. He does not specify which party did what, but it s still clear what he means. The final four words, -"and the war came" - are all only one syllable and this phrasing strikes me as simple, yet very powerful. In fact, my first attempt at a blog was called "And the Blog Came.")

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. 

(His beliefs on this subject are certainly clear.)

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?

(Again, the comparing and contrasting of the opposing sides and their goals stands out and noting that that it was impossible to satisfy both sides, that neither might be totally happy and that punishment was given to both impresses me as good observations. It seems obvious once he mentions it, but how many recognized it before he did, especially publicly? It also goes back to his undated "Meditation on the Divine Will" fragment which shows this was not a new line of thinking for him.

I also believe that while he states "judge not, that we be not judged," that the words immediately preceding to it actually lead the reader to a judgement. That is pretty strong writing, though perhaps it could be called "manipulative.")

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." 

(The grammatical structure, with the adverbs starting the sentences, and the subjects following the verbs, plus the repetition of words and sounds make this sentence so memorable. I find "mighty scourge of war" to be an excellent description, especially the harsh "c," "r," "g" and "w" sounds. "Scourge" may be the perfect word here or for any description of war.)

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

(This conclusion may be my favorite piece of Lincoln's, or anyone's, writing. When I gave a presentation about Lincoln last year, it included discussion of events in early 1865, and I concluded it with this sentence, though I added the word "amen" to the end, as these lines strike me as a "mini-prayer." (I have seen at least one website refer to "Lincoln's prayer" starting with "fondly do we hope" but I think this final section truly fits that description.) 

This is a truly great ending to a speech, so I "borrowed" it to end my presentation (though deciding which words and phrases to emphasize was not easy.) This speech ended on a high moral note, a "call to arms" for the citizens of the nation.)