Capital District Civil War RoundTable

09/06/2026

The beginning of an active September during the Civil War occurred when on September 6, Frederick, MD, was occupied by Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, and other southern generals.

164 YEARS AGO
Maryland Campaign

On September 6, 1862, the Army of Northern Virginia’s troops reached Frederick, Maryland. Around the Best Farm (a part of Monocacy National Battlefield today), Generals Lee, Jackson, and Longstreet established their headquarters until September 9.

From here, the Confederate campaign strategy was put into motion with Special Order No. 191 being written. Jackson would be sent with Lafayette McLaws and John G. Walker to capture Harpers Ferry while James Longstreet and D.H. Hill were to continue northwest.

As General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac pursued, a misplaced copy of Lee's Special Order that was intended for General Hill would be found in the area’s fields by a Union soldier of the 27th Indiana on September 13. As McClellan was gathering his own intelligence, the fortune in finding this "Lost Order" further assisted his own movements.

09/05/2026

The Historical Society of the New York Courts has created this valuable website loaded with links to useful information about NY and the Civil War.

The Document Based Question/essay prompt The Blue and the Gray: New York During the Civil War was prepared in 2012 and the resources have … More The Blue and the Gray: New York During the Civil War »

09/04/2026

Join us next Saturday at the roundtable’s next meeting on September 12 when guest speaker Dennis Doyle, historian and recently retired history professor from Chicago, will talk about the role of the 11th New York Independent Battery, Light Artillery during the Civil War. Join us at the Watervliet Senior Center at 10:30 for social time, followed by the beginning of the meeting at 11 o’clock. Follow shortly by Denis‘s talk. Don’t forget to bring your cash and check out the tables of Civil War books clothing, and memorabilia for sale.

09/03/2026

Beautiful Civil War monument and Ticonderoga New York, honoring the upstate New Yorkers who served in the union Army and Navy.

The Civil War monument in the village of Ticonderoga, New York. Photo is by the web page author.

09/02/2026

At New York City Riverside Park is this fabulous soldiers and sailors monument to Civil War soldiers from New York.

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Built in 1902 to honor Civil War sailors and soldiers — this hidden NYC monument still feels timeless. 🏛️

Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument — Riverside Park, Manhattan, NYC

09/02/2026

The importance of the Atlanta campaign is well described in this post.

“Atlanta is Ours, and Fairly Won.”
(Week 192: August 28 to September 03, 1864)

From the Editor: When President Lincoln began planning his strategy to get re-elected, he knew the odds were stacked against him as no sitting president had won a second term since Andrew Jackson in 1832. To widen his appeal to pro-war Democrats, Lincoln dropped the Republican party name and ran under the National Union Party banner. Lincoln also dropped his Vice-President Hanibal Hamlin (a staunch, lifelong abolitionist) for Andrew Johnson, a pro-Union Democrat from Tennessee. However, despite Lincoln’s efforts to rebrand the party his re-election prospects were always directly tied to the success of the Union military. Lincoln was riding high in 1863 after the victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, but by the late summer of 1864, staggering casualty figures and yet another call for troops has led to a sharp increase in war weariness. At their national convention at the end of August, the Democratic Party came together to nominate former Union General George B. McClellan. McClellan’s popularity among the soldiers added to Lincoln’s belief that his chances of winning re-election were growing steadily weaker, and on August 23rd he wrote a note for each member of his cabinet to sign sight unseen, vowing that if the election was lost it would be their duty to “save the Union between the election and the inauguration.” Ten days after Lincoln’s Blind Memorandum, he finally received good news from the front that “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.”

The victory in Atlanta transformed Northern public opinion by giving them a tangible victory and shattered the core argument of the Peace Democrats that the war was a failure. President Lincoln said it best when he was speaking to a delegation from the National Union League, "I have not permitted myself, gentlemen, to conclude that I am the best man in the country; but I am reminded, in this connection, of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that it was not best to swap horses when crossing streams."1

09/01/2026

News about an upcoming Rev War conference happening at Fort Ticonderoga from September 25-27.