Yup, I’m back. My day at the School of the Soldier Civil War Encampment was great. I made a few friends and was able to talk about my books. And, best of all, I spent the day with my son. Here are a few photos.
My book display
The troops drill
More drilling
Garrett, my son, sitting with President and Mrs. Lincoln
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Allaire State Park, American Civil War, School of the Soldier
Posted below is all the information you will need if you’re thinking about attending 4th Annual School of the Soldier Civil War Encampment at Allaire State Park in Wall Township, NJ. I’ll be there on Saturday afternoon signing and selling copies of books, Private Hercules McGraw and The Journals of Lt. Kendall Everly.
The New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association will be hosting its 4th Annual School of the Soldier – Civil War living history encampment at Allaire State Park in Wall Township, New Jersey on June 1st and 2nd, 2013.
In continuing the 150th commemoration of the American Civil War, this year’s encampment will portray New Jersey soldiers, who served in nine month regiments, returning home at the expiration of their enlistments in June of 1863, on the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg. Although these soldiers are due to be discharged, the state’s longer service regiments will spare no effort to convince these men to re-enlist again in Mr. Lincoln’s Army for the upcoming invasion of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia as it marches swiftly onto northern soil bringing war to the door steps of the Union. Visitors will be able to witness the recruiting tactics of the 1860′s up close and personal as well as see what camp life was like for a soldier and in some cases his family.
In addition to recruiting reenactments, there will be a full weekend of Civil War living history, including infantry drill and artillery demonstrations. Sunday will feature a rare cavalry drill exhibition along with two Civil War brass band concerts at the Pine Creek Railroad Station. In addition, eight published authors with a particular interest in New Jersey Civil War history will be present for sales and signings of their latest publications.
New features this year at Allaire include a Civil War Road Show of Collectibles on Saturday, with experts on hand to identify and appraise your Civil War era artifacts for a nominal donation, and a two day lecture series featuring Joseph Bilby on New Jersey’s African American Civil War Soldiers, Dr. David Martin on New Jersey at Gettysburg,Glenn LeBoeuf on the Mistakes at Gettysburg and finally Arthur Green on Civil War Small Arms.
This year’s event is named “Camp Stone” in honor of our friend, Arthur (Skip) Stone, a legendary figure in New Jersey’s living history community who passed away on December 9, 2012.
Event hours are Saturday June 1st from 10am – 4pm and Sunday June 2nd from 10am – 3pm. There is a nominal state park fee for parking.
photo by S. Thomas Summers
“Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal
background, the countless minor scenes and interiors of the secession war; and
it is best they should not. The real war will never get in the books.” – W.
Whitman.
Thanks to all the men and women who saw the “interior of war” and were
denied the opportunity to share their tales. You are all heroes. Although I
do not know your names nor do I know your faces, I shall never forget
you.
Posted in America, Memorial Day
Tagged American Civil War, History, Memorial Day, Shopping, Union, United States, Wars and Conflicts, World War I
On Saturday, June 1, two weeks from today, I’ll be manning a table at the School of the Soldier Civil War Ecampment at Allaire State Park in Wall Township, NJ. I’ll be signing and selling copies of my book Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War. Hopefully, I’ll also have copies of my second book, The Journals of Lt. Kendall Everly: a Story of the American Civil War. It’s being printed now.
The encampment will also feature all types of Civil War attractions. Visitors will be able to stroll regimental camp sites, talk to soldiers, listen to period music, see battles, and perhaps even talk to President Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States.
Come on out, by a book, and have some fun.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Allaire State Park, American Civil War, Civil War, June 1, Lincoln, Saturday, United States
Here is a transcript of a letter written by Y.J. Culbertson, a Union soldier, during the Civil War to his mother. Although it was written before Mother’s Day was an officially recognized day, I though it appropriate to share today, Mother’s Day.
Sadly, Culbertson died while fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg.
I offer my prayers and thanks to all mothers who have lost sons and daughters to war.
Columbia, South Carolina
May the 7, 1861
Dear Mother,
I take my pen in hand to inform you I am well at this time, hoping this letter will find you all enjoying the same blessing. I have had a bowel complaint since I wrote you last but I have got well nearly again. There are some of the boys sick but not very sick. Mother, I want you and Eliza to send me some eggs and light corn bread. Henry Fuller has written Sealy and Hannah. Henry and me are messing together. I want you all to get a box and put my things and Fullers together and send to Columbia, S.C. in the care of Captain W.J.M. Jones.
Mother, I am going to have my likeness taken and send it to you all and let you see me one more time. Tell Eliza I want her to keep my likeness when I send it home. Eliza, I want to see you a little of the worst. Eliza, I want you to take good care of yourself and my little children. I will tell you and the rest about my dream the other night. I dreamed I was at home, I went in the house and Eliza and the children would not look at me hardly. I thought I got right mad, but if it had been so I don’t think it would have been like my dream.
I remain yours truly until death,
Y.J. Culbertson
I’ve decided to take part in the writing challenge offered this week by WordPress. It tasks writers to connect with their “our geographical, generational, and cultural affiliations” and produce a piece of writing. I (kinda) did just that. The poem posted below is from my book Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War. The poem’s speaker, Hercules, is a Confederate soldier. I hope, I think, the poem illustrates a Confederate voice.
Seasons
It’s like a season passed in the blink
of an afternoon. This morning
I smiled at tall shoots of lavender
reaching above the grass and clover.
Bees hummed from bloom to bloom
like politicians knocking on doors,
mustering votes. Breeze carried scents
of earth and honey – sweetest spring day|
that ever filled my lungs. Made me wanna
touch something soft, something special –
maybe the hand of a Tennessee beauty.
But after a day of trading spit and smoke
with a regiment of Billies, this pretty spot
done shed all its pretty. Blood has a queer smell,
like a bog choked with sour fish,
but it don’t mud a patch of ground
like water does. Blood turns dirt
into syrup – walk in it too long
and you’ll get all gummed up.
And the dead are leaking blood all about.
From here it looks like a herd of fellas
decided to nap, but they ain’t waking up
no time soon. You can see their last thought
carved on each of their faces. It’s never fear or anger.
Mostly it seems like sorrow to me, like they know
they just lost memory and hope all at once.
Don’t seem like spring no more.
What season is it? It’s a season for breathing –
at least while you still can.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged American Civil War, History, Poetry, Private Hercules McGraw, Tennessee, United States, War, WordPress
Venturing forth with my new camera, I’ve confronted this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge with vim and vigor – well, at least I think I have.
The challenge is to present photos that somehow exhibit, personally or universally, some form of change. Let’s see what I came up with.
1. This first photo is of my son’s scooters. Walking our of my garage, the scooter’s were arranged just as they are pictured. I thought the arrangement made for a fine photo. Why change? My boy is growing up. He doesn’t use these scooters much anymore.
photo by S. Thomas Summers
2. My second photo is of a tree in my backyard. The photo was captured a day or so before Hurricane Sandy visited the Northeast. After Sandy struck, the trees leaves, all that gold, was gone.
photo by S. Thomas Summers
3. My third offering represents a more universal change. I write about the American Civil War. My first book, Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War, was released in 2012. My second, The Journals of Lt. Kendall Everly, should be released soon. The photo presented here is of a Union Cavalry Guidon. Flags of this type flew 150 years ago. The flag pictured here, flies in my yard.
photo by S. Thomas Summers
4. Finally, I present a photo of the English department’s book storage room at Wayne Hills High School where I teach literature and writing. Education has changed quite a bit in my 20 years as a teacher. Unfortunately, many recent changes are hurting education. This photo reminds me days gone by and why I became a teacher. I love books. I love a good story.
photo by S. Thomas Summers
I have a difficult time reading text-book accounts of military operations. As a Civil War enthusiast, that poses a problem. It’s not that I don’t understand those text-book accounts. Truth is, I simply find them boring. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
However, I very much enjoy reading dramatic accounts of historical events. Guess that’s one of the reasons why I’m a literature teacher/professor. I love a good story.
Earlier today, I finished reading Jeff Shaara’s novel A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh. Loved it.
Book reviewer David N. Kinchen wrote “I particularly like how Shaara toggles between the actions of the generals on both sides, and the ghastly events of the war as experienced by the “grunts,”making the historical novel (with the emphasis on historical) well-rounded. Even though Shaara advises the reader in his “To The Reader” to read historians Shelby Foote and Jim McPherson if you want a detailed history of the Battle of Shiloh, I think even those eminent historians would recommend A Blaze of Glory to the general reader.”
Even before I finished reading the novel, I started researching the battle it speaks of: the generals, the places, the causes, the strategies, the triumph, the tragedy…and yes, the glory. Yes, I must admit, I read several “text-book” accounts. You see, once I get the story in me, once the story lights that fire of discovery within me, I’ll read anything to make that fire burn and burn hot.
Over the next few days, I’d liked to share my thoughts regarding Shiloh. Hopefully, some of my Civil War compatriots will join in the discussion.
Posted in Book Review, Jeff Shaara, Shiloh
Tagged American Civil War, Battle of Shiloh, Civil War, History, Shelby Foote, Shiloh, Union Army, United States
I did it. It’s done. Save for a few minor edits and revisions, my second manuscript, The Journals of Lt. Kendal Everly: A Story of the American Civil War, is done and should be on book shelves later this year.
It was tough nut to crack, much darker than my first book, but it’s done and I’m happy.
Here’s the book’s first poem, the first entry in Kendal Everly’s journal. Everly is a teacher and a pacifist. He writes this not long before the Civil War begins.
English: Gen. Charles Griffin (1825 – 1867) (as Captain), career officer in the United States Army and a Union general in the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of the Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theater. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is the Place
April 1, 1861
Here, beneath these trees –
oak and ash – shadows lay
like blankets spread
for a community of picnics.
I feast on a moment’s song:
breezes, still laced
with March’s chill, weave
as ribbons about these limbs,
Giggling children dart
behind stalwart trunks
hiding from each other and me –
children teasing me, their teacher,
as I walked to school.
But this spring rumbles.
Men who drape themselves
in the dark robes of politics
brandish words as warriors
brandish swords –
and I am afraid.
Posted in American Civil War, Poem, Poetry, S. Thomas Summers, Uncategorized
Tagged American Civil War, Bookcase, Civil War, History, Kendal, Kendal Everly, New Jersey, United States
Sorry, folks. I’ve been busy. My high school students have
just finished a week of mid-term exams and I’ve been grading
them, all 125 of them. Additionally, the Spring semester has
started at Passaic County Community College. I’m a
writing professor once again.
Today, I’ve a bit of time to share a smidge of good news. My book
manuscript, The Journals of Lt. Kendal Everly: A Story of the American Civil War, is now officially a fothcoming book. The contract is in my hands. Additionally, historian and author Scott Mingus has agreed to provide the book with its first back cover blurb. Scott Mingus is the author of several books concerning the American Civi War and I’m very excited to have him be a part of my second book.
Here’s a link to Mr. Mingus’s website:
http://www.scottmingus.com/Books_by_Scott_Mingus.html
S. Thomas Summers is a teacher of Writing and Literature at Wayne Hills High School in Wayne, NJ and an adjunct writing professor at Passaic County Community College in Wanaque, NJ.
He is the author of Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War, published by Anaphora Literary Press. It is available on amazon.com.
