2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

[Gary of CA]

The 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference will be in San Francisco. Scheduled for Nov. 12-14, our theme is Blood on the Ramparts: Coastal Defense in the Civil War. We want to capitalize on local physical assets including Fort Point, Fort Mason and Fortress Alcatraz. While none of these forts ever fired a shot in anger (OK, Alcatraz once challenged a British ship that failed to raise her flag), the theories of coastal defense do not differ. Professor Craig Symonds (ret), late of the US Naval Institute and the Mariners' Museum and author of numerous books including on one Pat Cleburne, will talk about Union amphibious operations and in a separate talk, the Confederate navy's role in the war. NPS Ranger John Martini (ret), author of Fortress Alcatraz, will discuss the defense of the SF Bay Area and Fortress Alcatraz in particular. We also have Prof. Jim Stansbery (from Southern Calif) who will be talking about the development of Coastal Defense (Tier I, Tier II and Tier III). National Park Service Ranger Rick Hatcher (Charleston/Fort Sumter/Battery Wagner) will give a two hour discussion on the defense of Charleston. Our keynote speaker is Prof. James McPherson (Battle Cry of Freedom). The third day of the conference (Sunday) will include a trip to Alcatraz where we will tour the rarely visited citadel that sits beneath the prison structure (as well as the normal tourist stuff like Al Capone's cell, Birdman Robert Stroud's cell, Machine Gun Kelly's cell), then we return to SF for a bus ride to Fort Point, a short tour of the Presidio (where Irwin McDowell rests as does the most famous sharpshooter of the Civil War, California Joe/Truman Head), perhaps the house where Emory Upton committed suicide, and then Fort Mason to see the battery there. That's only a thumbnail of what we're planning for our guests.

Go to Friends of Civil War Alcatraz for more information. The recommend hotel is Inn at the Opera. It's only a half a block away from the conference site at the historic San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center (401 Van Ness - check out its website if you want images) where the UN Charter was signed back in 1945.

- moderators. If this is in the wrong forum, please move it. Thank you.

[Gary of CA]

Re: 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

The planning committee has been approached about student rates. Student has been defined as full time (12 units or more) and below the age of 25. (This was done to exclude older folks like myself who return to college for fun classes and not academic studies). Anyway, for students, the conference will be $99.95.

It will take a while before our website (Friends of Civil War Alcatraz) is changed to reflect this special student price.

[Drygoods]

Re: 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

Gary, do you mind if I copy your notice and add it to the October NCWA Dispatch?

[Gary of CA]

Re: 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

Please do. Thank you.

BTW, right now it is $179 to register for all three days. On Oct. 1, it will be $199.

[Drygoods]

Re: 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

Thank you Gary, I put the news into the club Dispatch.

[Gary of CA]

Re: 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

We're almost at capacity now and because of space limitation, may put a limit on 110 for dinner. We have prints donated by (alphabetically), Mort Kunstler, Keith Rocco and Don Trioani.

[Gary of CA]

Re: 2010 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in San Francisco (Nov. 12-14)

We had three wonderful days of good, warm weather. The Sunday and Monday before the conference was rainy. On Wednesday it was sunny, but cool (and cold if you stood in the shade). By Thursday when the first people began arriving, it had warmed up. We sent James McPherson, Craig Symonds and their wives to prison on Friday. OK, we sent them on a private tour of Alcatraz where there was a special Civil War tour that day. Afterward they were led down into the dungeon of the prison. Actually, it's the remnants of the original Civil War era citadel that was raised so that a prison could be built atop. It's rarely visited today but the rangers were happy to lead them on a tour. The rest of us mortals got to visit it on Sunday.

On Friday evening Craig Symonds started the conference with a talk on the Union Navy at the start of the war. He covered pre-war naval developments such as how steam engines began replacing the sail as the prime motive power for ships. There was a huge discussion among naval architects of the period as to whether the paddle boat was superior to the screw (propeller) equipped steamer. We all know which one one. The introduction of iron as a ship building material was also raised by Craig. Additionally, he covered the unprepared nature of the Union Navy with its handful of ships, many of which were scattered around the globe.

James McPherson then delivered his talk on the challenges of defending the waterways around the Confederacy. It was over 3,000 miles of shoreline when one considers that besides the Gulf of Texas and the Atlantic Seaboard, there was also numerous rivers which not only served as means of transporting goods to the market but also invasion routes for armies.

On Saturday morning, Rick Hatcher discussed the history of Charleston from the very first English settlers to the British attempt to first capture that city in 1776. When that failed, they returned much later and captured it in 1780. He talked about the development of the nation's coastal defense and how Charles Town was initially defended by Fort Johnston on Johnston Island and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. After the War of 1812, Castle Pickney was added. The big one though was Fort Sumter and he showed us invoices for rocks and rubble that were deposited there to form the land upon which Sumter was built. He also told us that in the old days, when accounts were bundled and sealed in their envelopes, they were secured with red tape. He produced a zip lock bag with a sample of the red tape. The second hour of his talk discussed Charleston in the Civil War and how the ironclads failed to capture the harbor and city. Charleston was one of the few coastal cities that did not fall until near the end of the war and it fell only when Sherman approached to the rear and made Charleston untenable.

John Martini was our next speaker and he talked about the development of the Bay Area starting with the Spanish Presidio. After the War of 1812, the Tier 3 system was introduced and Fort Point built. The Army was supposed to build a fort on the Marin County side opposite of San Francisco, but a land speculator found out and bought up the land first and offered it to the Army at an exorbitant price. They found a note signed by Lincoln in 1862 asking whether the land in Marin was available yet. It was never purchased until the war ended at which point the land price dropped. Martini also mentioned how the Spanish and later the Americans had built a battery at Pt. San Jose (Fort Mason) to control the harbor if an enemy warship ever got past Fort Point. Fortress Alcatraz was built to defend the bay for the same purpose. Additional batteries also protected San Francisco (which was developed mostly on its eastern shore line).

Prof. Jim Harper (Los Angles Harbor College) then spoke on amphibious operations during the Civil War. It was predominantly a Union affair with multiple landings that convinced Lee of the unfeasibilty of holding the coast. However, he did insist that Charleston be held and when Pemberton wanted it evacuated, Lee told him to stay put. In other places the Union was very successful and after 1862, they slowed down. He argued that had they invaded from outside (coast) inland, that the Confederacy could have collapsed sooner.

Craig Symonds then spoke about the Confederate Navy and its challenges. It started with very little resources and initially issued letters of marque for privateers to raid the Union merchant ships. That didn't last long as the captured vessels had difficulty running the blockade and foreign powers would not allow them to dock. The financial incentive for privateering died because of that. Raider ships were built overseas and secretly armed elsewhere. Thus the famous Alabama and other raiders were built. Prof. Symonds also talked about the ironclads and some of their problems (machinery and in the case of the Virginia, deep draught).

Afterward Prof. Symonds spoke, there was a panel discussion where various questions were thrown out to the speakers.

Our keynote speaker at dinner was James McPherson who spoke about the infernal machines. He covered history and mentioned they were not novel and used in other wars. However, they were not very reliable and did not have much impact on those earlier wars (including the Crimean War). McPherson discussed both land and sea torpedoes and how the Union Navy late in the war used them to blockade the Confederate James River Squadron. They feared that squadron would come out the James and destroy Grant's supply depot at City Point. On land, Sherman was not too happy about them and made PoWs clear them from his path. However, in his assault on Fort Fisher which stood in his way to the sea at Savannah, his men were able to capture it despite their use as part of the fort's defense.

All meals were provided by the same caterer. They didn't overcook the salmon, dry out the chicken, over cook the tri-tip or ruin the pork. The vegetables were not overcooked and we had a variety of dinner rolls to choose from. The salad was tasty and we had a choice of different dressings.

Sunday was strictly a tour day and we visited Alcatraz, the Presidio, Fort Point and Fort Mason. It was a great two and a half day conference.