The Dispatch - Summer 2024

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‍Summer 2024 Edition

Radnor, PA

Philadelphia, PA

Ridely, TN

Hillsborough, NJ

Kent, CT

Marlton, NJ

Lansdale, PA

Galloway, NJ

Fairless Hills, PA

Warwick, PA

‍Announcements:

‍Congratulations to longtime member and supporter RITA THOMAS ! Rita celebrated her 90^th birthday on May 17th.

‍Change in our Board of Directors-

‍A message from President Andy Waskie:

My personal Statement on Decoration/Memorial Day

Dear Friends, Members and Volunteers,

It is with thanks & gratitude that I greet you today at the Annual Observance of Decoration/Memorial Day at Laurel Hill Cemetery. It was in fact, here that the very first ceremony to honor the Fallen from the Civil War by the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was held on May 30, 1868 and the event has continued here ever since to include the veterans of ALL American wars and conflicts.

Thank you for attending and participating in this sacred event.

Unfortunately, I can not be with you today, but I am here in spirit and support. I have not missed many of these Services. I will be laying a wreath for Memorial Day at the American WWII Military Cemetery in Margraten, the Netherlands where over 8,000 Americans who fell in Europe fighting tyranny in WWII rest today. I am representing the 8th Armored Division Association. I am the president of the Association of the unit my father served in. It is a great honor for me to have been invited to participate.

Only this could have kept me away from attending with you ALL.

Forget NOT the faithful, honored dead whose sacrifices have given us the freedoms we enjoy.

Thank you

Andy Waskie, Ph.D.

Memorial Day Services at Margraten American Soldiers Cemetery

in the Netherlands 2024

There are 154 soldiers of the 8th Armored Division who fell in WWII in the ETO (European Theater of Operations) buried at Margraten, NL

A contingent of members of the 8th Armored Division Association led by president, Andy Waskie and other Board members and guests including ‘honorary’ members who live in Europe attended the Memorial Day events and laid a wreath to honor the veterans of the 8th Armored Division who fell in WWII or died in service and all the US Veterans interred there. There were also several veterans who received special recognition with a graveside floral arrangement including:

S/Sgt Rocco Zuccarella (Co. A, 49th Armored Infantry Battalion, 8th Armored Division) the father of Association V.P. Gloria Layne and others.

Samuel M. Horn 405 Infantry. 102nd Division the uncle of Patrricia Bradley of the Philadelphia VBOB Chapter.

There will be photos of the event and include them in the next newsletter ‘Thundering Herd’.

Some of the members of the 8th Armored Division Association who participated in the ceremonies were:

Andy Waskie, President; Carol Neumann, Treasurer; David Clare, Historian, Maggie Palu and Serge Palu, Honorary members Hubert Troisfontaine and his wife Annalies and daughter Renee, Honorary member Roy Pfennings and members of American Legionnaires from the Margraten, Netherlands Post NL #01, Department of France.

I had attended their wreath laying earlier and they returned the favor.

‍Greetings!

Saturday trip to the Eastern Shore - June 15, 2024- Nancy Kelsey & Dick Shute

I wanted to share with you all an interesting day trip that we took to Dorchester County, MD.

About 3 hours south of Philadelphia, in the State of Maryland on the Eastern Shore, is the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center.  This State Park is 17 acres and comprises of the Visitor Center and legacy garden. 

There is also the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway that is a 125 mile driving tour with audio guide visits sites.  Along this route there are three dozen settings that highlight where dangerous activities took place.

As we entered the building, we were greeted by a National Park Ranger and invited to watch the short film of Harriet Tubman's life.  This film had me in tears for so many reasons.  How families were separated, wives from husbands, children from their parents.  Children were required to work at a young age and the slaves were treated terribly, beaten and tortured.

This center immerses visitors in the secret networks of the Underground Railroad and Tubman's own daring escape and how she returned many times to guide over 70 others to freedom.

We then had a nice lunch at a local restaurant on the Choptank River in Cambridge, MD that was only about 10 miles away.

We then went to the Harriet Tubman Museum & Education Center and saw the huge mural on the back wall of Harriet reaching out her hands to us.  Absolutely breathtaking!  There is so much to learn and read about this incredible woman's life.  Tubman served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a nurse and spy.  She was the first woman in US history to plan and lead an armed assault.

I learned so many interesting facts about her life.  I learned that she was supposed to be with John Brown during the raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859 but she was sick and was not able to go.

She died in 1913 at the age of 93 in Auburn, NY.  I was very fortunate to attend the Meade Society Fall trip in 2011 and we visited her house and grave site.

Words can not justify my deep admiration for her.  She had amazing courage to not only escape the horrors of slavery but also help many others escape this terrible life. 

If I may quote Harriet Tubman, "I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other, for no man should take me alive."

I would highly recommend visiting The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center in Church Creek, MD and the Harriet Tubman Museum and Education Center in Cambridge, MD.

Here is info in case you would like to visit----

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park & Visitor Center

4068 Golden Hill Rd

Church Creek, MD  21622

410-221-2290

Harriet Tubman Museum & Education Center

424 Race St.

Cambridge, MD  21613

410-228-0401

Nancy Kelsey

Assistant Treasurer

Membership Chairperson

The General Meade Society of Philadelphia

On Friday, June 14th, I was honored to attend the Flag Day and Army Birthday luncheon at the Union League of Philadelphia along with good friends Jack & Carol Lieberman and Andy Waskie.

We stopped for a photo in front of the magnificent ( and LARGE, @12feet by 9 feet) painting of General  George Washington on horseback, done by the world-famous artist Thomas Sully in 1842.

Sully(1783-1872) was born in England , but spent most of his life in Philadelphia. In 1863, he loaned the painting to the newly established Union League of Philadelphia, and in that same year, the League purchased this masterpiece for $750.00 !!

Thomas Sully died on November 5th, 1872(ironically ,the day before General Meade !!). His son, Aldred Sully was a Union brigadier general in the Civil War.

Both are buried in, yes LAUREL HILL CEMETERY !

                                                                                                                                                                         Jerry McCormick

Note- photo of painting by Jack Lieberman, photo of Sully by William Bjornstad,

Photo of gravesite by Russ Dodge.

‍An American Civil War Battle Was Fought Off The Coast Of France

‍

While most U.S. Civil War conflicts occurred on American soil, the Battle of Cherbourg was a rare exception — it took place all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of France. This sea skirmish occurred on June 19, 1864, between two opposing warships, the Union’s USS Kearsarge and the Confederacy’s CSS Alabama. The battle was the result of an effort by Union ships to track down Confederate raiders across the globe. Given the U.S. Navy’s loyalty to the Union, the Confederacy contracted various shipyards in Britain to help expand their fleet, which the neutral British government did little to prevent at the time. The Alabama had been secretly built in England, and set sail across the Atlantic in January 1863. The warship struck and sank the USS Hatteras off the coast of Galveston, Texas, before changing course toward Southeast Asia. During this global excursion, it captured 65 Union merchant ships before returning to Europe in 1864 for much-needed repairs.

The crew of the Alabama docked in Cherbourg Harbor on June 11, believing they’d likely be safe in neutral French territory. However, on June 14, the Kearsarge came upon the enemy ship and created a blockade out at sea. Over the next several days, Union Captain John A. Winslow and Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes prepared their respective ships for battle, and the Alabama fired the first shots on June 19. The fighting drew the attention of spectators who gathered on the shore to witness the skirmish. After an hour, the Alabama began sinking, though most of its crew members were rescued by a nearby British yacht. While Semmes escaped into England and evaded capture, the battle was a decisive victory for the Union Army, which had toppled one of the Confederacy’s most destructive warships.

REPAIRS AT GRANT'S TOMB SOUGHT;VISITOR CENTER REOPENED

‍A number of deferred maintenance .items at Grant’s Tomb have called for attention over the past several years. In 2019, the GMA wrote elected officials about, among other issues, wear to the monument’s steps and the broken, cracked outdoor plaza. There was not much progress made on maintenance issues during the pandemic, and in 2023, a substantial amount of discoloration from the intrusion of water became visible in the Tomb’s upper levels, adding yet another pressing concern at the monument. Both the repair of the plaza pavers and repairs to the roof of the Tomb have become the local NPS administrators’ highest priority at the site, and these issues are now undergoing higher level review. In order for any of this to move along, however, a sufficient appropriation must be enacted into law by Congress. Concerned citizens should write their members of Congress urging the appropriation of sufficient funds to accomplish these repairs without delay.

 Water Damage at Grant's Tomb (January 2024)

In other news, the visitor center at the overlook pavilion across the street from the Tomb, which had closed to the public in March 2020 amid the pandemic, was reopened on Memorial Day 2023. The current open hours at both locations are limited: Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the visitor center additionally closed between 12 p.m. and 1p.m. This contrasts to the hours adopted by the NPS during the renovation of the 1990s, when the site was opened for seven days per week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “That schedule should once again be adopted,” said GMA president Frank Scaturro. “Appeals to Congress for sufficient appropriations for repairs to the site should also include a request for funding of sufficient staff to keep the entire site open for eight hours a day, seven days a week.”

Dear General Meade Society Members & Friends: 

On July 1st I was invited to appear on Pennsylvania Cable Network TV (PCN) for a CALL-IN Show on the Battle of Gettysburg. (

 View the Video: 07-01-24 BOG Call In FIX (3).mp4

I portrayed the Victor of the Battle of Gettysburg and Savior of the Union, Major General George G. Meade.

I was accompanied via zoom by General John Buford (Mark Leonard) and Dr. Jonathon Letterman (Randy Krakower), members of the Confederation of Union Generals, (COUG) this is the 2nd time General Meade appeared on this program, which brought out many excellent questions, and a lively discussion, the program lasted one hour. 

Thank you for your interest and support.

Anthony Waskie, PhD, President, General Meade Society of Philadelphia (awaski01@gmail.com) 

‍

A website for the Funeral Car of Lincoln’s Long Journey Home

The upcoming spring in 2025 will mark a solemn anniversary.  April 2025 will mark the 160th anniversary of the Lincoln Assassination and the journey of the Funeral Train that bore Lincoln’s body from Washington back to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. 

We can expect many events in April which will reflect on Lincoln’s life.  A new website www.InGreatDeeds.com will be a collection point for people to advertise their local events commemorating Lincoln’s passing and for others to learn how the funeral train visited many cities and towns on its journey west.  

Both individuals and history groups such as GMS are encouraged to submit news of upcoming events.  The website includes a free signup for a periodic newsletter/blog to follow the progress of this national effort, and to share their own local history for how their citizens marked the passage of the Funeral Train across the United States.

This website was created by Shannon Brown, an expert in trains and the Lincoln Funeral Train in particular. In fact, she is personally planning to retrace the route of the Lincoln Funeral Train from Washington to Springfield on the April dates of 1865.  She and others will also be giving talks about the Lincoln Funeral Train itself.

The history of the Lincoln Funeral Train (the so named “United States”) was a private passenger car with bedrooms and office space for President Lincoln – the equivalent of Air Force One.  Sadly, its maiden trip was to take Lincoln home to Springfield.  Lincoln’s casket was taken off in major cities and visited by citizens. Lincoln lay in state in Independence Hall on April 22, 1865. The Funeral Car had minimal use after that, and it was destroyed by fire in 1911.

In preparation for the 150th anniversary of the civil war, starting in 1999 a replica Funeral Car was built and was to travel Lincoln’s route in 2015 - but Conrail refused use of their rails and the railcar was trucked on a flatbed trailer to only a few cities.  After 2015, the fate of the replica was uncertain until it was acquired by Stone Gables Estate (halfway between Harrisburg and Lancaster, PA) where it joins the Star Barn as a restored historical artifact for visitors.  In 2018, it rode the rails of the private railroad at Stone Gables - where the rails lay on the same ground where Lincoln traveled westward.  The car’s fragility has since resigned it to a well-appointed train barn where it is visited by thousands every year … and the private railroad at Stone Gables runs their other railcars and locomotive on holidays, including this upcoming Fourth of July. 

For more info or comments contact me,  John Voris   at  johnvoris@gmail.com 

‍Sergeant Albert Bunn, Co. B, 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers: Gettysburg Hero 

Killed in Action at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 while volunteering to serve with Cushing’s Battery on Cemetery Ridge at the ‘Angle’ during Pickett’s Charge, Sergeant Albert Bunn is deserving of the Medal of Honor for rendering the exact same service that day as Battery Commander Alonzo Cushing who was also killed in action but has received the Medal of Honor.

Civil War Union Army Soldier. Bunn was mustered in as a Sergeant in Company B, 71st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on July 10, 1861. He was wounded in the October 1861 Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Va. and the June 30, 1862 Battle of Glendale, Virginia, during the Seven Days Battles. On the Third Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he was wounded in the head by a shell and killed while manning an artillery piece after all the gunners were cut down.

He was originally interred by his family in Philadelphia’s Monument Cemetery, but was reinterred in Laurel Hill on November 13, 1863.

His parents were Albert Gesner Bunn Sr. (1802-1873) and Rebecca Crouse Bunn (1808-1865). Brothers William M. and Alexander J. both served in the Civil War. William M. served in Company F, 71st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He later became Governor of the Idaho Territory. Alexander J. served in Company E, 3rd New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. Both are buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Obituary, July 17, 1863, Philadelphia Public Ledger:

BUNN – Killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 3d, 1863, in the 25th year of his age, Sergeant ALBERT G. BUNN. Of Co B, 71st Regiment, P V., son of Albert G., and Rebecca Bunn. His relatives and friends, the Northern Liberties Lodge No. 67, I.O.O.F, and the Order in general, the Printers Union, the Independence Hose and Globe Engine Companies, also all members of the regiment that are in the City, and the members of the Provost Guard, are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, from the residence of his parents, 1005 Lawrence Street, this (Friday) afternoon, at 4 O’clock. To proceed to Monument Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.

Article, August 3, 1863, Philadelphia Inquirer:

A MODEL SOLDIER. – SERGEANT ALFRED G. BUNN, of the Seventy-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. He enlisted in the California Regiment at the commencement of the war, and was wounded in the leg during the fight at Ball’s Bluff. He rejoined the regiment as soon as he recovered and was again wounded at the battle of White Oak Swamp, being shot in the head. He passed safely through all the other battles, until that at Gettysburg, when he fell mortally wounded, having previously received two wounds, one in the leg and the other in the arm. He would not leave his post, however, but continued to serve at one of the batteries until a third shot struck him in the head, killing him instantly. He had written a letter the morning before the fight to his mother, and endorsed it with a request that, in case he should get killed, the finder would send it to his mother. The letter was found by one of the First New York Battery. It is as follows –

“July 2, 1863 - Dear Father and Mother: -Since I wrote you last I have been constantly on the move; we are now in Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg, and the grand battle is expected to come off this morning. There was a small fight yesterday. We were awakened very early this morning and were moved up to our present position, where we can hear the roar of the cannon. No matter what happens I will do my duty, and will not be shot in the back, and if it is God’s will that I should fall I hope you will not mourn for me, but rather rejoice that you had one son who fell in defense of his country and native State. Your affectionate son, Albert G. Bunn.”

This letter is an epitaph worthy of a hero. There is a moral courage in it, blended with the physical, that should endear the name of the author to every loyal person in the country. 

Excerpt, Article on the ‘Battle of Gettysburg’, The Ohio State University, Department of History, http://ehistory.osu.edu 

More than an hour of continuous shelling had badly damaged Arnold’s battery, had silenced T. Fred Brown’s Rhode Island battery sited just south of the Copse of Trees, and had disabled many of Alonzo Cushing’s pieces and gunners. When some of his batterymen broke for the rear, the lieutenant threatened them with death impelling them back to their guns. At length, Cushing, who had sustained a shoulder wound, struggled over to General Webb seeking help from nearby infantry to work his guns. The plea for aid was transmitted to Colonel Smith whose call for volunteers was answered by as many as 50 Californians, including almost everybody in Company E. The men rushed out of formation to help the remaining batterymen work their rifles and to bring ammunition forward. The passage of more than 20 years had not dimmed Smith’s memory of the names of many of those ersatz artillerymen: there was Sergeant Paul Dubin of Company B, Sergeant George Donnelly, Corporals Samuel Clawson and John Heap, and Privates John Barlow and William Brown, all of Company D. Also helping to work the artillery pieces were Corporal Richard Margerum, former Ball’s Bluff prisoner, and Captain Bernard McMahon, officially under arrest for murder and facing death by firing squad. Sergeant Albert Bunn of Company B rushed out of the ranks, reportedly took charge of one of the guns and began loading it to the muzzle. Sergeant, your gun is elevated too high, blurted Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kochersperger. All right, Bunn responded, turning the elevation control and lowering the barrel. Kochersperger expressed concern that the overloaded artillery piece would explode. All right, the sergeant shouted, if it does it will burst some of them! With that, Bunn pulled the lanyard. My men - my most brave men worked his [Cushing’s] battery, until all [ammunition] was gone, pronounced Col. Penn Smith. A number of Californians were struck down while serving the Napoleons. Private William Brown of Company D was wounded in the forehead and died later in the day, and Sergeant Bunn was hit in the head by a shell fragment and instantly killed beside the gun he had loaded and fired.

‍Upcoming Events

• Night at the Phillies - August 27

Click the above link to view the flyer, pricing and how to contact Tom Kearney for tickets.

• Major Octavius V. Catto Honor Ceremony - October 5
• Annual Fall Excursion - October 18 - October 20

• Annual Brunch & Awards Ceremony - November 3
• U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Observance - November 9
• Remembrance Day in Gettysburg - November 16
• Wreaths Across America - December 14
• Annual General Meade Birthday Celebration - December 31

For complete details and registration (if required) click on the above links

‍J‍oin the General Meade Society

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Consider joining our organization or making a tax-deductible contribution to support our organization and related causes.

Membership can be completed online here or by mailing the following form along with your payment.

Contributions can be made via debit/credit cards online here.

‍ 

Alex Palma

Robert Palma, PhD.

Joe Perry

Joseph Pugh

Bill Linhart

John Voris

‍Visit our website:  generalmeadesociety.org

‍The General Meade Society of Philadelphia, Inc.

P.O.Box 394

Abington, PA  19001

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