The Gettysburg Compiler

Profile of Senior CWI Fellow Becky Oakes ’13

“It was the most nervous I’ve ever been. You can convince yourself you don’t know anything.” The first day working at any new place can be nerve-racking. But what if your job is to be the living spokesperson for a war fought more than 150 years ago? For Becky Oakes, an intern last summer at four Civil War battlefields in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the first day on the job proved to be a rewarding experience after she let the anxiety melt away. A family who traveled from Indiana to Fredericksburg had come to ask her about the battle, one in which their ancestors had fought. “Before I knew it, I was grabbing maps out from under the visitor’s desk and showing the family where their relatives would have been positioned. In that moment, I realized I could do this.”

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Treating Private Lorenzo Stocker

By Kristen M. Trout ’15

German immigrant Lorenzo Stocker enlisted in the 40th Pennsylvania Regiment of Volunteers in September 1861 in response to President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops. Private Stocker was one of the 800 Pennsylvania-Germans who enlisted in the regiment at Camp Worth in West Philadelphia. The regiment, which would be called the 75th Pennsylvania Regiment after the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, participated in the battles of Cross Keys, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, and Knoxville.

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The Harris Family’s Tale of Woe on the Erie Canal

By Tiffany Santulli ’13

In 1850 terror swept through the African American population with the updated installment of the Fugitive Slave Act. Now all citizens were required to aid in the capture of any fugitive slaves they encountered, or face heavy fines or even jail time. While this law was directed toward runaway slaves, free black people still had a great deal to fear. Anyone could accuse them of being a runaway slave and if they were brought before a judge the law worked against them because the court would receive more money if a black person were declared a slave rather than free. The threat of the Fugitive Slave Act forced many free black people in the lower free states, such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, to abandon their homes and push northwards to escape the scope and reach of slave bounty hunters and accusatory neighbors.

One of these black families who fled was the Harris family. Catherine Harris, William Harris, and their three year old daughter left their home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and headed north towards Canada. In Albany, New York, the Harris family boarded a ship to travel on the Erie Canal during the chilly month of October. Little did this family know that this journey would ruin their lives.

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Writing on the Operating Table Part Two: The Letters of James Langstaff Dunn, Civil War Surgeon

By Sarah Johnson ’15

After discussing the war letters of James Langstaff Dunn through the lens of Gerald Linderman’s Embattled Courage and challenging the idea of mass disillusionment among Civil War soldiers, it becomes necessary to revisit the Dunn letters to discuss a more helpful framework for viewing Dunn and his war experience. Frances Clarke’s War Stories: Suffering and Sacrifice in the Civil War North sets up the Civil War against a backdrop of notions of Victorian suffering. By using Clarke’s approach, Dunn is revealed as an individual dedicated to cultural notions of suffering and sacrifice for cause and country.

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Returning the Landscape to its Battlefield Appearance: Part Three of Three

By Tricia Runzel ’13, Gabby Hornbeck ’13, and Becky Oakes ’13

Within the last couple of years, the Gettysburg Cyclorama Building has become a point of tension for Gettysburg buffs across the country. After a long battle, the National Park Service has recently begun demolishing the structure. In an effort to better understand the controversy over the fate of the Cyclorama Building, three Civil War Institute Fellows have completed a three part video series explaining both sides of the argument and why the decision was ultimately made to return the landscape to its 1863 appearance.

Click below for our final installment of this series, “Returning the Landscape to its Battlefield Appearance.” If you missed parts one and two, check out “The Cyclorama Land in July 1863” and “Mission 66 and the Creation of the Cyclorama Building.”

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Personal Civil War Poetry

By Andrew Bothwell ‘13

As far as popular literature is concerned, the discussion of Civil War poetry often begins and ends with Walt Whitman. Other poetry of the time has often been deemed by modern audiences as mediocre and mere propaganda. The poetry of Civil War soldiers and civilians, however, held a greater purpose than the amusement of future generations.

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Lecture Review: “Lincoln and the Laws of War” by Dr. Jason Frawley

By Avery C. Lentz ’14

Many historians would agree that Abraham Lincoln was one of the most complex individuals of the Civil War Era. He was a strong and fascinating politician. However, Lincoln’s leadership has generated mixed reviews among historians and Civil War buffs everywhere, particularly keeping divisions between the North and South. Dr. Frawley’s lecture, held in McCreary Hall at Gettysburg College, discussed how Lincoln navigated the Union through the war. In particular, Dr. Frawley considered the legalities of war and military conduct in the 1860s.

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RATCO visits Gettysburg

By Allie Ward ’14

On March 28 a group of inspirational students from Selma, Alabama from the Random Acts of Theatre Company (RATCO) toured the Gettysburg Battlefield with CWI fellows and staff. Led by Dr. Peter Carmichael and Dr. Jill Titus, we endeavored to answer the difficult question of whether or not the Civil War was worth it. Many of us would answer this question with a resounding yes without realizing the extent to which the environment we were brought up in shaped this response. For the students of RATCO, who are growing up in a segregated community where the war of northern aggression is still taught in schools, “yes” is a much harder conclusion to reach.

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George Beidelman and the 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers

By Avery C. Lentz ’14

In 1861 there were thousands upon thousands of young men who signed up to fight for their country for a multitude of reasons. In the case of George Washington Beidelman, his motivations were stated: he was “in a fighting mood to risk it all for the best Constitution and government the world has ever seen.” He like so many others would go into battle and discover that war wasn’t the glamorous adventure that they had dreamed it would be, but instead, a very violent affair.

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Mission 66 and the Creation of the Cyclorama Building: Part Two of Three

By Tricia Runzel ’13, Gabby Hornbeck ’13, and Becky Oakes ’13

Click below for the second installment of this series, “Mission 66 and the Creation of the Cyclorama Building.” Check back in the coming weeks for the conclusion of this series, “Returning the Landscape to its Battlefield Appearance.”

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