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GRAPE &
CANISTER
VOL. LII No. 4 MAY
2008
CRERAND’S OR BUST!
NOTICE OF ANNUAL
MEETING OF MEMBERS
Notice is hereby given that the Annual Business Meeting of the Members
of the Civil War Roundtable of Wilmington, Delaware, Inc., a charitable and educational corporation, organized under the laws
of the State of Delaware, will hold its annual meeting, Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at Crerand’s Ale House, 2605 Philadelphia
Pike, Claymont, DE 19703 at 8:30 P.M. or as soon thereafter as feasible for the following purposes:
1. Election of four directors to the Board of Directors; and
2. Such other business as may be brought before the meeting.
PRECEDED BY DINNER MEETING
The Round Table meets the first Wednesday each month from September through May (except January) at Crerands Ale House,
2605 Philadelphia Pike, Claymont, Delaware. Dinner starts at 6:30 P.M. ($13.00) followed by the program ($3.00) at 7:30 P.M.
The Round Table puts on a first-class historical presentation by an author, scholar or performer each month.
MEETINGS AT CRERANDS
ALE HOUSE
DINNER & BAR SERVICES
NO PRIOR
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
Place: Crerands Ale House
2605 Philadelphia Pike
Claymont, DE 19703
TEL: 302-798-2521
Time: Dinner at 6:30 P.M. Program at 7:30 P.M. Business meeting follows
program
Price: Dinner $13.00; meeting $3.00 (not included in dinner price)
Wednesday May 7, 2008
Speaker Don Hakenson
Topic: History: The Forgotten Land
Entrees: TBA
THIS MONTH IN THE CIVIL WAR
1862: May 8: Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson’s Valley Army defeats Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk’s
Union forces at McDowell Virginia in the Allegheny foothills.
1863: May 15: Union soldiers wreck the offices of the Richmond, Indiana, Telegraph because the paper published pro-Confederate
disloyal articles.
1864: May 5: Confederate forces under Brig. Gen. R.M. Hoke are driven off by Maj. Gen John G. Foster’s Union
forces at New Berne, NC after an abortive attempt to capture the city.
1865: May 26: Confederate Lt. Gen. S.B. Buckner and Union Maj. Gen P. J. Osterhaus conclude surrender terms for all
Confederate forces west of the Mississippi.
BIOGRAPHY OF DON HAKENSON
,Donald C. Hakenson, our May speaker, was born in Washington DC, and lives in Franconia, Fairfax County, Virginia . Don
is a Vietnam era veteran Since 1989, he has been the Director for the U.S. Armed Services Center for Unit Records Research.
Don's Army organization is the DOD Executive Agency responsible for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) claims, Agent Orange
inquiries and the daily maintenance of the DOD Persian Gulf Registry for the Air Force, Army, Navy, Coast Guard and the Marine
Corps. . Don is a long time researcher and historian of Civil War and Revolutionary War incidents and sites in Fairfax County.
An expert on John S. Mosby and his rangers, Hakenson conducts Mosby bus tours with his partner Gregg Dudding for the Stuart- Mosby Historical Society. Don is the President of the Stuart-Mosby
Historical
Grape & Canister , May, 2008
Page Two
Society. He is the author of This Forgotten
Land: A Tour of Civil War Sites and Other Historical Landmarks South of Alexandria, Virginia about the Civil War history
in Fairfax County and has co-authored two books with Gregg Dudding about Colonel John S. Mosby and his men. This Forgotten
Land, won the 2001 Nan Netherton award from the Fairfax County History Commission. Mr. Hakenson is also a founder and
a member on the board of directors for the Franconia Museum. Don had two great great grandfathers who served in the Confederate
Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia and cousins and uncles that served in the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry( Mosby’s
Rangers).
EXCERPTS FROM ADDRESS AT THE UNVEILING OF THE MONUMENT TO DELAWARE’S CONFEDERATE VETERANS
(continued from the February issue)
We left off the story of Samuel Boyer Davis in mid-story .
When Lt. Davis had recovered sufficiently to return to duty, he discovered that Gen. Trimble had been detained by the Union
army in Fort Warren, and he had no position. Fortunately, Brig. Gen. John H. Winder, the Provost Marshall of the District
of Richmond, and superintendent of Libby and Belle Isle prisons, needed an adjutant and aide de camp. Davis joined Gen. Winder’s
staff in October.
After a short period of duty with Gen. Winder in Richmond, Lt. Davis accompanied Winder to Goldsboro, North Carolina in
May 1864, and to Andersonville, Georgia on June 17, where Gen. Winder assumed command of the prisoner of war camp. Davis became
assistant adjutant and inspector general of the prison. Within a few weeks, Lt. Davis had caused a controversy at Richmond
by submitting an inspection report (now lost) showing the serious deficiencies in prison accommodations at Andersonville.
Confederate Adjutant General Samuel Cooper sent Gen. Winder a blistering comment on Davis’ report demanding that Gen.
Winder do something about the post. Unfortunately for thousands of Union prisoners of war, Winder was unable or unwilling
to expand the camp, change the sanitation facilities or otherwise improve their lot. Despite this controversy, Davis continued
to act as Winder’s inspector general of prisons for the remainder of 1864.
Davis obtained leave in December and went to Richmond. He joined the Confederate Secret Service, on detached duty to accompany
Harry Brogden, a Maryland civilian, behind Union lines with despatches for Confederate agents in Canada. Davis reached Montreal
safely and delivered the despatches. He also received despatches for President Davis. Union authorities caught Lt. Davis alias
Willoughby Cummings, near Newark, Ohio, on his way back to Richmond. Davis’ despatches were seized and he was charged
with espionage. Davis was convicted of spying for the Confederacy on February 26, 1865, by a General Court Martial. Davis
drew a death sentence. President Lincoln approved the sentence, and Davis was taken to Johnson’s Island awaiting execution.
Confederate exchange agent Robert M. Ould learned that Davis was sentenced to die and interceded with his Union counterpart
to save Davis’ life. Confederate Signal Officer J. A. Palmer led the campaign to save Davis’ life by letters taken
through Union lines to the Horace Greely’s New York Tribune.
The Tribune’s adverse publicity helped to change the Lincoln administration’s mind about executing Davis.
On February 25, Lt. Davis was taken by train to Wilmington and transported to Fort Delaware, where he was imprisoned until
the end of hostilities between North and South. After his release late in 1865, Samuel Boyer Davis relocated in northern Virginia.
He died in 1905 and is buried in Masonic Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia.
Pvt. John Dunning
John Dunning was born March 10, 1837 in Greensboro, Caroline County, Maryland. His father Samuel had a tanyard and hotel
in Greensboro. Samuel Dunning died in 1842. His
G rape & Canister , May, 2008
Page Three
widow went home to Dover with her children. John Dunning attended grammar school and an academy in Dover, receiving a diploma
in 1852. He clerked for a Dover merchant for seven years, finally accumulating enough capital to go into business with his
brother Charles Dunning in a general store in Chesapeake City, Maryland.
Dunning, like many Delawareans, was pro-southern in outlook. In the fall of 1861, Union soldiers belonging to Brig. Gen.
Henry H. Lockwood’s Brigade arrested Dunning. He was sent to Fort McHenry where he was held without charges being preferred
for four months’ time. This experience soured Dunning’s loyalty to the United States. Closing up his business
in Chesapeake City in the fall of 1862, he passed through Union lines to the Confederacy, joining a new command being raised
in Fauquier County, Virginia, by Capt John S. Mosby, soon to be known as the 43rd Virginia Battalion or Mosby’s
Rangers.
Dunning was one of Mosby’s earliest recruits, joining the original group of 25 men that made the famous March, 1863
raid on Fairfax Court House that netted Union Brig. Gen. Edward Stoughton, Mosby’s first celebrated prisoner of war.
Dunning served more than two years. Dunning was a prisoner of war for a short period of time on July 18, 1864. At that time,
Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s Corp of the Army of Northern Virginia was retiring from his raid on Washington, and passing through
the northern end of Loudon County, crossed the Shenandoah River at Snicker’s Ferry. Mosby’s battalion provided
a screen for part of this retrograde movement and Dunning was caught by the Union advance guard of cavalry trying to take
Snicker’s Ford on the Shenandoah on that date. However, he waited for an opportune moment and broke free from his captors.
His horse was reputed to be one of the fastest mounts in Mosby’s command, and his pursuers could not recapture him before
he reached the safety of Gen. Early’s forces on the west bank of the river. Dunning took part in Mosby’s most
notable raids, including the "Greenback Raid" in the fall of 1864, and the retaliatory hanging of Union prisoners of war in
November. Dunning also picked up a saber cut on the hand during a cavalry skirmish, and a gunshot wound to the leg.
Dunning was paroled in June 1865, stopping only a few months at home in Dover visiting his family before going to New Orleans
to clerk in a dry goods store. After a year and a half of the hospitality of the Crescent City, Dunning’s health collapsed
and he moved west to Texas for his lungs. In 1869, the new general store he had just opened burned to the ground and via a
another brief stop in Dover to visit family, he took a book-keeping job in Kentucky. In 1872, Dunning settled in Dover for
good. He became a real estate salesman in Dover and Seaford, and on August 10, 1874, acquired a wife, Elizabeth Clements of
Ingleside, Maryland. With the passing of time, Dunning’s real estate business thrived. He joined the Episcopal Church
and became one of Dover’s leading citizens. Late in life, he joined the United Confederate Veterans post in Easton,
Maryland, and attended the 1913 UCV Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dunning died in 1915, and is buried in Christ Church
churchyard in Dover.
(To be completed in the August issue)
LINCOLN BI-CENTENNIAL
PROGRAM
General Frank Ianni and Tom Reed are working on an Abraham Lincoln Bi-centennial program for the Round Table to be held
in the first six months of 2009, as close to Lincoln’s Birthday as possible. They are contacting major speakers and
are soliciting co-sponsors for this grand event celebrating the 200th birthday of the Great Emancipator. Your help
may be required to put this project over.
CIVIL WAR TRIVIA
What was the name of Union Maj. Gen Philip Sheridan’s horse?
What make of revolver did Confederate Maj. Gen. Jeb Stuart normally carry?
Who wrote An Affair at Owl Creek Bridge?
Grape & Canister, May 2008
Page Four
THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Dear CWRT Members:
I want to thank everyone who has helped out with our Round Table programs and projects this past year. Particularly I want
to single out Lisa Cristofich our program chair, who has made it possible for us to put on the finest speakers with the greatest
topics every month.
Next year is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. We as one of the very oldest Civil War
Round Tables should honor his memory by a special Lincoln celebration. I have asked Gen. Frank Ianni and Tom Reed to co-chair
a special program on Lincoln that should be a drawing card to the greater Wilmington and Northern New Castle County community.
Congratulations to those new Directors who agreed to serve for a three year term starting in June and to all those who
are returning for another three year term on the Board. Your participation in our projects is vital.
Frank Giamboy, Jr. President
Grape & Canister
A Publication of the Civil War Round
Table of Wilmington, Delaware, Inc.
Founded 1955
President: Frank Giamboy
Vice President Education: Robert Potter
Vice President Preservation: John LaRosch
Secretary-Treasurer: Ann Warner
Board Members:
Lisa Cristofich,
Robert Potter
Vincent Gasbarro, Jr.
James Pratzner
John LaRosch
Frank Giamboy
Thomas Massey, III
Ann Warner
Greg Vavroch
Tom Carver
Deborah Butzbach
Program Chair: Lisa Cristofich
Field Trip Chair: Vincent Gasbarro, Jr.
Editor: Tom Reed
©2007 Civil War Round Table of Wilmington, Delaware, Inc. 301 W. Lea Blvd Wilmington, DE 19802
Student Membership: $5.00
Individual Membership: $15.00
Family Membership: $25.00Life Membership: $250.00
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