Military History Commons^™

Adams County In The Great War, Jonathan Tracey

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The First World War has generally faded from American memory, and is generally considered to have not cost the United States much. Although the country did not experience the total destruction that Europe endured, even small towns such as Gettysburg paid a cost, and the sacrifices made one hundred years ago should not be forgotten. First off is a brief summary of Adams County in the war, sourced primarily from Paul Foulk and Percy Eichelberger’s “Adams County in the World War.” Foulk and Eichelberger were students of Gettysburg College (then Pennsylvania College) and returned from service in the war and …

The Conflicting Conflict: Memorialization And Memory Of The Great War, Danielle E. Jones

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

July 1st through 3rd, 2013 marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. There were an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 visitors to the national park, including as many as 10,000 reenactors. The Civil War sesquicentennial was commemorated from the very beginning, and ended with a reenactment in Appomattox that saw over 6,000 people visit to re-live the end of the American Civil War. On April 9th, bells across the nation, including at Gettysburg College, tolled for 4 minutes to honor the four years the war raged on. Plans were started for the anniversary almost a decade in advance and …

Appomattox: 152 Years Later, Jonathan Tracey

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Just over a week ago was the 152nd anniversary of General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House. Although that number may not be as big a deal as the 150th anniversary a few years ago, there was something else special about this year. For only the seventh time since 1865, April 9th fell on Palm Sunday, just as it did on the day that Grant and Lee met in the McLean House. Not only was I lucky enough to attend this commemoration, but I was able to revisit the job I held over the summer by volunteering that weekend. Arriving …

Civil Wars In The Capital: Civil Affairs In The Defenses Of Washington, 1861-1863, Blake M. Lindsey

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the relationships between civilians and soldiers in the Defenses of Washington during the Civil War. Marked by a combination of conflict and adaptation, the visible tension between soldiers and civilians threatened Union loyalty around Washington. Differing identities and priorities caused these conflicts. Young soldiers steeped in a Northern education that cast the South as an enemy thought slavery and associations with Maryland marked Washington’s rural outskirts as an enemy territory. This dynamic, along with material needs, led soldiers to frequently take private property without compensation, known as foraging. Furthermore, soldiers adopted new identities and social groups that …

3rd Place Contest Entry: “Cry ‘Havoc!’ And Let Slip The Dogs Of War!”: The Canine Experience In The A.E.F., Amanda Larsh

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Amanda Larsh's submission for the 2017 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won third place. She wrote about the experiences of canine units in the American military during World War I. ou can read the final essay that came out of her research here.

Amanda is a senior at Chapman University, majoring in History and News & Documentary studies. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Leland L. Estes.

King Cotton And The Rising Sun: The Japanese Navy’S Confederate Ironclad, Alexandria J. Andrioli

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

When the American Civil War ended in 1865, the United States government sold off naval vessels as the country transitioned to Reconstruction. One of those vessels, the CSS Stonewall, traveled to countless and unexpected locations. The CSS Stonewall never fought in the American Civil War as it was intended to do, but instead was destined to fight in the civil war between the Japanese shogunate and emperor as the first ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Kit Carson's Last Fight: The Adobe Walls Campaign Of 1864, David A. Pafford

History ETDs

In the fall of 1864, Brigadier General James H. Carleton sent Kit Carson and about four hundred men on a punitive campaign against the Kiowa and Comanche Indians of the high plains. The resulting battle was one of the largest in the history of North American Indian Wars. Yet this conflict has been relegated to historical obscurity.

In this paper, I examine why Kit Carson’s 1864 Adobe Walls Campaign remains obscure, I measure the success of the mission, and place it in the larger context of nineteenth century Indian Wars, particularly those prosecuted against Plains tribes.

The Corwin Amendment: The Last Last-Minute Attempt To Save The Union, Hannah M. Christensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

At around 5:20AM on March 4, 1861—Inauguration Day—the Senate voted 24-12 to pass a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would permanently preserve slavery in the states where it currently existed. If successfully ratified, it would become the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution—and hopefully avert the secession crisis and the impending Civil War. However, only six states had ratified the amendment by early 1862, and the amendment died soon after. The last attempt to stop the Civil War, an attempt which had been in the works since shortly after the presidential election, had failed.

The L. & H. Huning Mercantile Company: A Case Study Of Mercantile Conquest In The Rio Abajo Region Of New Mexico, 1848-1880, Ricardo S. Gonzales

History ETDs

This master’s thesis is a case study of the L. & H. Huning Mercantile Company, a mercantile partnership in New Mexico during the territorial period. Louis and Henry Huning, a pair of brothers who immigrated to New Mexico from Germany in 1859, established wholesale and retail enterprises in the Arizona and New Mexico territories. Their main storehouse was founded in Los Lunas, New Mexico, in 1871 following the departure of Erhardt Franz to St. Louis.

L. & H. Huning became a successful merchandising business in the Rio Abajo by establishing a mercantile monopoly in Los Lunas. The introduction of free-market …

"They Take The Rags Off The Bush:" Arkansas' Bowie Brigade, Anthony Charles Rushing

Theses and Dissertations

This project examines Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s role in Operation Iraqi Freedom II (2004-2005) through an exhibit at the Arkansas National Guard Museum. It provides citizens of Arkansas a detailed example of their soldiers’ experiences in wartime, preserving their honor, dedication, service, and sacrifice for posterity. Additionally, it demonstrates how National Guard units can perform full spectrum combat operations at the same level as active duty forces, contrary to recent conclusions This is important, as the size of the US military is reduced, the National Guard will be required to play an even more active role.

Finding Meaning In The Flag: Ex-Slaves And Newsies, Olivia Ortman

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Thus far we’ve talked about predominately white Union and Confederate views of the Confederate flag, so for my last piece on perspectives during the war I want to talk about the views of African Americans. For African Americans, especially, the Civil War was tightly intertwined with the matter of slavery. They realized that the outcome of the war would be instrumental in determining the fate of slavery as an institution and believed that a Confederate victory would be detrimental to the prospects of their freedom. If Southerners had their way, slavery would likely never die.

Right To Serve, Right To Lead: Lives And Legacies Of The Usct, Matthew D. Laroche, Hannah M. Christensen, Alexandria J. Andrioli, Jennifer A. Simone, Savannah G. Rose, Jonathan G. Danchik, Laurel J. Wilson, Jonathan E. Tracey, Danielle E. Jones, Ryan D. Bilger, Savannah A. Labbe

Civil War Institute Student Research

This is a catalog for an exhibit that follows the evolution of African-American participation in the Civil War, from slaves, to contrabands, to soldiers of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), as well as the lives of black veterans beyond the war, and their ultimate military and social legacy. Using a variety of period items, it creates a narrative that stretches from the Antebellum Period to the current day. In doing so, the exhibit shows how black sacrifice on the battlefield redefined the war's purpose throughout the divided nation, how Jim Crowe suppressed the memory of black participation after Reconstruction, …

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Spring 2017, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

From the Dean (Robin Wagner)

Library News

• "You do not have a minute to lose!"
• New Homes for Old Books
• Wikipedia Edit-a-thon (Melanie Fernandes '16)
• Share a Table (Sarah Nelson '17)
• A Note of Sadness (Jay P. Brown '51)
• Not Lost in Translation

Half a Million Downloads from The Cupola! (Janelle Wertzberger)

Revisit The Mercury

Mercury Stories of Note (Jerry Spinelli '63)

More Early College Publications Online

The Spectrum of Art

First German Print of the Declaration of Independence (Daniel DeNicola)

Hidden Beneath: Watermarks in the Early American Document Collection (Tyler Black '17)

Archaeological Students Dig Special Collections

Research Reflections …

Paintings Of War, Museums Of Memory, Laura G. Waters

Student Publications

This paper examines the artists sent to the Western Front under Britain’s official war artists initiative. The government sought to utilize artwork for propagandistic purposes, and to foster emotional connection between civilian and soldier. However, the growth of the initiative to include some ninety artists complicated this. The experiences of the artists and the truths revealed to them by the conflict were vastly different, and examination of them as a whole does little to elucidate the character of the war itself. What this paper seeks to do, therefore, is examine three artists - Sir William Orpen, Lieutenant Paul Nash, and …

Johnson’S War: How Vietnam Tarnished A Presidency, Patrick Lyons

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This Senior History thesis entitled, Johnson's War: How Vietnam Tarnished a Presidency, dives into the controversial and often questioned success of Lyndon Johnson as President of the United States. Specifically, the Vietnam War and its harsh effect on Johnson and the United States is debated throughout. The context expresses how Johnson's presidency would forever be tarnished by the stain the Vietnam War has left in American history. The steps taken during the Johnson administration were proven to be quite harmful to his reputation and the success of the nation. The decisions made and consequences that came with the Vietnam War …

Interpreting A Commemorative Landscape: The Eleventh Corps And Cemetery Hill, Bradley J. Klustner

Student Publications

An analysis of the memorialization of the land on and around Cemetery Hill on the Gettysburg battlefield as it pertained to the Union Eleventh Corps.

Experience, Emotion, And Emoting: Jack Peirs And The Aftermath Of Loos, Laura G. Waters

Student Publications

An investigation into the personal letters of one man on the Western Front, this paper seeks to uncover some of the complexities of emotion and emoting within British societal narratives of the First World War. Conceptions of masculinity and stoicism imposed limitations on soldierly expression, forcing them to abide by preordained 'scripts' to continually qualify as men. The difficulty lay in finding ways to cope emotionally with their surroundings while still playing their 'roles'. By looking closely at the words and coping mechanisms of one man, Lieutenant-Colonel H.J.C. Peirs, in the aftermath of the Battle of Loos, this paper attempts …

The Myth Of Strategic And Tactical Airlift, Jacob D. Maywald, Adam D. Reiman, Alan A. Johnson, Robert E. Overstreet

Faculty Publications

In the 21st century, our ability to quickly and decisively deliver combat forces and equipment is of the utmost importance in achieving our national security objectives. The swiftness and flexibility of the US Air Force’s mobility airlift fleet is the key to executing a rapid global mobility strategy. The operational effectiveness and efficiency of military air transportation relies on the expertise and intuition of Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) mobility planners. Working in coordination with the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and geographic combatant commands (GCC), AMC is responsible for the tasking and tracking of almost 900 daily mobility sorties worldwide. …

Longstreet’S Attack From Seminary Ridge To The Rose Woods, Caitlin T. Connelly

Student Publications

This is an overview of a theoretical tour at Gettysburg focusing on Longstreet’s attack on the second day from Seminary Ridge to the Rose Woods. The three tour stops are the Mississippi Monument on West Confederate Avenue, the Peach Orchard, and photos of dead Confederate soldiers in the Rose Woods. After a brief overview of the attack, the paper introduces several questions raised by the historical landscape concerning the sense of history it conveys, how well the landscape currently reflects the experiences of soldiers, what drove soldiers to fight, and how the landscape expresses its own changing meanings. The paper …

Interpreting A Commemorative Landscape: Culp's Hill And Spangler's Spring, Zachary A. Wesley

Student Publications

Culp's Hill is described as one of the least visited and most under interpreted portions of Gettysburg National Military Park. This paper analyzes some of the sites in the vicinity of Culp's Hill and Spangler's Spring to create a picture of both the fighting on July 2, 1863, and the interactions of veterans and tourists with the area in the years and decades following the Civil War.

Visual Culture Project: Confederate War Etchings: Searching For Arms By Adalbert Johann Volck, Lynn B. Hatcher

Student Publications

Adalbert Johann Volck’s 1861 sketch of Union soldiers, “Searching for Arms,” represents a substantial contribution to the narrative about gender relations during the American Civil War. This simple, small sketch offers the observer a window into the past. It is a collision of symbols and meaning—from gender to war to the household—all wrapped up in one image. This is a portrait sketch of a woman being invaded in her domestic, private sphere, revealing so much about gender relations during the time. The mistress herself seemed to embody a vast range of sentiments such as anger, fear, frailty, and strength, proving …

Visual Culture Analysis Of "The Last Ditch Of The Chivalry, Or A President In Petticoats", Sarah A. Hansen

Student Publications

This lithograph is a Northern depiction of the capture of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Titled "The Last Ditch of the Chivalry, or a President in Petticoats", and picturing Davis in a woman’s dress and bonnet, the Northern press painted Davis as a coward. Rather than being a man and standing up to the Union troops, Davis disguised himself as a woman and attempted to cowardly escape. Although in actuality Davis was wearing a rain jacket and shawl rather than a full dress and bonnet, the Northern press mocked him. This piece demonstrates the prominence of male Southern honor, and …

The World War Ii Letters Of Richard Schade, Ashley N. Sonntag

Student Publications

Richard Schade was a newlywed when he was drafted into the United States Army on January 29, 1943, in Camden, New Jersey. While stationed in the United States during World War II, he wrote a series of letters to his new wife, Betty. Many of these letters were love letters discussing deep love as well as the active plan to start a family. Through the letters written over the course of months he records his daily duties, concerns, dreams, and various information about the conditions in the military. His letters developed into a valuable insight into the life of a …

The Centennial Of The Great War, Thomas J. Crafa

Student Publications

A personal reflection on the centennial of America's entry into The Great War.

A Moment In History Relevant To The Modern Era, Brandon R. Katzung Hokanson

Student Publications

April 6, 1917 is a date that deserves great recognition and remembrance in the United States. On that day, the United States chose to enter a war that it had previously so ardently tried to avoid. Upon entrance, the United States forged a new national identity that looked past racial and religious barriers with a new mission to protect global democracy. On April 6, 2017, the 100th anniversary of America entering the First World War, news and other media throughout the United States seemed to care so little about the significance of the date and unfortunately passed over an excellent …

The Great War Then And Now: Reflections On America’S Declaration Of War, Thomas S. Potter

Student Publications

This short essay explores the many impacts of the 1917 U.S. entry to World War I on the author's hometown of Pennington, NJ, and the reaction of its residents at the time.

The Letters Of Stewart Winfield Herman Jr. An American Pastor In Berlin, 1936-1941, Lucy A. Marks

Student Publications

This paper provides an analysis of the experiences of Stewart Herman Winfield Jr based on a collection of his letters on loan to Gettysburg College from the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. This paper discusses Herman’s experiences as a student in Strasburg and Gottingen, and as the pastor of the American church of Berlin from 1936 – 1941. Born in Harrisburg, Herman attended Gettysburg College, and the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. Herman’s letters provide both a pastoral and an American perspective on the start of WWII and Nazism in Germany. Herman traveled frequently and witnessed the changes that Berlin faced during World War …

Saving Grace On Feathered Wings: Homing Pigeons In The First World War, Brandon R. Katzung Hokanson

Student Publications

Soldiers of the First World War came in all shapes and sizes. The humble homing pigeon is one of the more unique and critical examples of such. They served in the armed forces of both the Allies and the Central Powers. Used as a last-ditch form of communication, the homing pigeons were exceptional in the work of sending messages back and forth between the battle lines. Little has been written about their vital role and even less in the rigorous training the birds and their handlers both endured. Understanding their training is critical to understanding how the homing pigeons performed …

Anime And War, Carol Sun

Honors Papers and Posters

This poster examines the growth and development of anime in Japan in post-World War II Japan, particularly its ability to make audiences question the trajectory of humanity and society and to "critique the society that relies on technology...as a means to prevent or discourage war and conflict".

3rd Place Research Paper: “Cry ‘Havoc!’ And Let Slip The Dogs Of War!”: The Canine Experience In The A.E.F., Amanda Larsh

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

For thousands of years man and canine have hunted, fought, and survived together, eventually strengthening their relationship and reaching the bond experienced in modern times. Although scientists remain unsure as to when canine domestication began, modern dogs are dramatically different from their ancestors in more ways than merely the size of their snout.^[1] While World War I signaled a new era of warfare for humans, the role dogs played was not new or unfamiliar. Dogs battled alongside humans since the Stone Age, performed sentry duty under Napoleon’s rule of Alexandria and acted as scouts in the Spanish-American War.^{[2] …}