THE LATEST ON THE CONTROVERSY

We believe that AEP-SWEPCO has been concerned about news broadcasts and editorials in two Louisiana newspapers supporting the preservation the Mansfield Battlefield. During late June and July several “letters to the editor” or editorial opinion columns were penned commending AEP-SWEPCO as being “preservation friendly” or trying to justify that the land owned by the Mansfield Historic Site and the land being preserved in private hands at Pleasant Hill are the only things that need to be saved. It’s certainly not surprising to hear that landowners who have profited from leasing to the lignite mine voice support for it. Actually, one of these letters was written by an older gentleman who, after learning that his property contained the last remaining Union earthworks in the area, indicated that he would still plant trees there. The earthworks were quickly destroyed by tree-planting equipment and part of the history he claims to support was lost forever. Responses have been sent to both the Shreveport and Mansfield newspapers after letters appeared there.

Perhaps the people in the battlefield area have lived so long with the vestiges of the battle that they simply take them for granted and do not fully realize their import. Or, perhaps, they really don’t care. We prefer to believe the former rather than the latter. We believe that reasonable, intelligent people DO CARE about history and preserving examples of battlefields.

YOUR PEN IS THE POWER -- HELP US WRITE

If you would like to voice your opinion about the battlefield to news media or share your experience at the Mansfield State Historic Site, please do so. You may want to commend the Shreveport Times (http://www.shreveporttimes.com/) or the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (http://www.2theadvocate.com/) for their editorial stances in support of battlefield preservation. Their snail mail addresses are: The Times, P.O. Box 30222, Shreveport LA 71130-0222, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588. You may also want to commend Louisiana Public Broadcasting for their excellent program which named the Mansfield Battlefield as the state’s No. 1 Endangered Historic Site (http://www.lpb.org/). The Mansfield newspaper is the Mansfield Enterprise and can be reached by snail mail at Mansfield Enterprise, 202 Adams St., Mansfield, LA 71052.

Now, you need to know that there are politicians in Louisiana who “claim” to know nothing about this controversy—despite it having been covered editorially in two of the state’s largest newspapers. It would be naïve to believe that, yet that’s what we hear. We need you to write, particularly if you live in Louisiana, and let them know that this is an important issue. You don’t have to be eloquent – politicians tend to ignore form letters – so just say what you think, and say it to everyone. They need to know that someone cares! And as the fall races heat up, this is the best time to get their attention.

Lt. Governor Kathleen Blanco – She is running for governor. Her department is over Culture, Recreation and Tourism and that includes the state historic site at Mansfield. Address: P.O. Box 44243, Baton Rouge LA 70804-4243.
E-mail: kblanco@crt.state.la.us.

Phillip J. Jones – He is secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. He has direct responsibility over the site. Address: P.O. Box 94361, Baton Rouge LA 70804-9361 email: pjones@crt.state.la.us

Foster Campbell – He is the public service commissioner representing the North Louisiana. The Louisiana Public Service Commission regulates utilities and has oversight of AEP-SWEPCO’s activities.
Address: P.O. Drawer E, Shreveport LA 71101 E-mail: gregm@lpsc.org

Louisiana State Representative Mitch Landrieu – Representative Landrieu is running for Lt. Governor (yes, that’s the department that oversees the Mansfield State Historic Site). He is currently being acknowledged as a front-runner in that race. If the name is familiar, his sister is U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. Address: 1100 Poydras St. Box 20, New Orleans, LA 70163. E-mail: larep089@legis.state.la.us. Joining Mitch Landrieu (who has a commanding lead) in the lieutenant governor’s race are Representative Melinda Schwegmann, Kirt Bennett and Stephen Rue. It’s Louisiana politics, though, so nothing is real until it the final vote is counted.
Here are some politicians currently representing Northwest Louisiana (lame ducks not included):

Louisiana State Senators

Senator Robert Adley 716 Main St. Minden LA 71055 E-mail: adleyr@legis.state.la.us
Senator Greg Tarver 1024 Pierre Avenue, Shreveport LA 71103 (he has no email address)
Senator Max Malone 610 Marshall St Shreveport LA 71101 malonem@legis.state.la.us

Louisiana Representatives
(we’re including only email on all but Mansfield’s to save space)

***Representative Beverly Bruce (represents Mansfield P.O. Box 884, Mansfield, LA 71052)
E-mail: rep007@legis.state.la.us
Representative Cedric Glover larep004@legis.state.la.us
Representative Hoppy Hopkins larep001@legis.state.la.us
Representative Lydia Jackson mailto:larep001@legis.state.la.us
Representative Billy Montgomery larep009@legis.state.la.us
Representative Jane Smith larep008@legis.state.la.us
Representative Wayne Waddell larep005@legis.state.la.us

In the governor’s race, you may want to contact any of the following who are candidates: Richard Ieyoub, Buddy Leach, Bobby Jindal, Randy Ewing, Jay Blossman (a public service commissioner), Dan Kyle, Randy Ewing, and Hunt Downer.

FRIENDS DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

We just returned from an all too brief vacation in Maine where Gary signed copies of his new book at the 20th Maine bookstore. We visited the Joshua Chamberlain home which has been preserved by the Pejebscot Historical Society We enjoyed touching base there and hearing new stories about this remarkable general and man. His house has been saved because caring people joined together and made it happen.

We also visited historic Fort Knox at Buckstown and appreciated the great job the Friends organization has done there. This is a state site, but the Friends play a big part there. Last year we visited a Hugenot village in New York’s Hudson Valley and were amazed at what their Friends group had saved. On a previous New York trip we visited Fort Ticonderoga – a beautiful site and an outstanding history experience. This New York site was entirely preserved and restored by private individuals. Camp Ford (where many prisoners from the Red River Campaign were held) suggested that we exchange memberships and we did so with much excitement. We have common goals in different locations. They are doing a great job of bringing attention to their historic site.

We want to be able to do for Mansfield what the wonderful Friends organizations elsewhere have accomplished for their historic sites.

WEB SITE GOES LIVE!

If you’re reading this on the web, you already know that our Web site is up and running. Check in regularly at http://www.mansfieldbattlefield.org/index.asp. You’ll get up-to-date information and find the newsletters easy to access. You can see photos of the Mansfield State Historic Site and of the lignite mining activity, plus you’ll learn about upcoming events.

DATABASE CREATION

Our summer intern, Jennifer Grayson, is working on a database to help identify historical societies and organizations in Union towns or cities that provided troops for the Battle of Mansfield. We are already contacting organizations and newspapers in hope that they can connect us with people whose ancestors fought in the campaign and gain support. We are particularly interested in Ohio troops since AEP-SWEPCO is headquartered there.

While we have records nearby on many of the Confederate troops, we are, sadly, missing Union information. This is in its preliminary stages now, but we hope to gather information and create an even larger database of participants in the Battle of Mansfield and the Red River Campaign. We will gather biographical information and portraits or photos of those who fought in this campaign. Since Gary is a member of the history faculty at LSU in Shreveport, we are hoping that we can find students from the university who will assist in putting all this together.

With our proposed database we hope to put together a “Hall of Fame” that will highlight many of the lesser-known participants in the battle. After all, it is easy to locate information on the notables but difficult to learn much about those whose names were not included in newspaper accounts of the day. Several of our members have shared information with us about their ancestors. This has inspired this project and we hope to establish some sort of computer template on our Web site (soon to be up and available) where information can be typed in and scanned portraits and photos can be attached. While SCV and SUV camps have often researched their ancestors, we have a particular interest in the Corps d’Afrique soldiers and are trying to identify a very special way to handle this research. (Incidentally, the next site threatened by the lignite mine is where Union and Corp d’Afrique troops fought.) This is in the organizational stages now. If you have suggestions, let us know.

CIVIL WAR ANCESTORS?

If you have an ancestor who fought in the Red River Campaign, please share information about those ancestors with us. Give us as much detail as possible, and cite any sources you may have. And if you have a photo or visual, scan it and send it as well. We are compiling a database with this information and would like to include information on YOUR ancestor. E-mail is the preferred medium to receive this. We will lose Jennifer, our intern, as the school year begins, and we will be back to doing this ourselves. Let us hear from you or anyone you know with a Red River Campaign ancestor. Tell us how you wish to be credited and give us your permission to use the information on a release form on our Web site.

E-MAIL REMINDER - WEB SITE

We appreciate those of you who have given us an e-mail address. Remember to let us know if you change e-mail addresses. Marilyn has been entering information into the computer and sending acknowledgements. She says it’s often difficult to distinguish an “O” from a “0” and sometimes an “e” from a “c.” Anyone who receives this by snail mail either did not give us an e-mail address or gave an address we could not decipher. If you need to give your e-mail address to us, you can reach us at info@mansfieldbattlefield.org. By posting the newsletter on the Web site we can save both time and postage.

PASS IT ON!

We are all in this together. Please pass the word to friends, relatives and acquaintances who you think might be interested. Networking is critical if we are to grow.

HONOR ROLL

****HONOR ROLL****

Special thanks to the following members who have joined at the Legacy Level and to our Business/Organization members.

LOUISIANA
Evelyne C.T. Abney, Shreveport
Roger Anderson, Shreveport
Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, Benton
Arthur R. Carmody, Jr., Shreveport
Richard L. Colquette, Shreveport
Reinhard Dearing, Slidell
Markham A. Dickson Jr., Shreveport
Semmes Favrot, New Orleans
General Polk Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, DeRidder
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Hamer, Morgan City
Jonathan Henderson, Shreveport
Andrew Higgins, Ruston
Gary D. Joiner, Shreveport
Paul Jones, Opelousas
Kyle A. Korcha, Leesville
David J. Krebs, New Orleans
Louisiana Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
James Marvin Lowrey, Sulphur
Roderick Miller, Lafayette
North Louisiana Civil War Round Table, Shreveport,
Paul Oberle, Benton
Robert C. Poimboeuf, Shreveport
Shreveport Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Shreveport
J.G. Smith, Stonewall
Charles H. Stewart, M.D., Lafayette
Anita Tinsley, Jack Tinsley II, Jason & Sonia Tinsley, Taylor Tinsley, Lake Charles

TEXAS
Barton Allen, D.D.S., Dallas
Austin Civil War Round Table, Austin
Angel Brandt, Dallas
Capt. James P. Douglas Camp #124, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Tyler
Nolan L. Green, Jacksonville
John B. Hood Camp # 50, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Galveston
Johnson-Sayers-Nettles Camp # 1012, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Wortham
John M. Keahey, Missouri City
Montgomery County Artifact Recovery Club, Houston
Robert and Norma Richardson, Hillsboro
Philip R. Ritchie, Carrolton
Robert S. Stark, Brenham
Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Whitmeyer, Jr., Colmesneil

TENNESSEE
James S. Gilliland, Memphis, Tenn.

NEW MEMORIALS

IN MEMORY OF

JOSHUA A. SAXON
Company B, Walker’s Texas Cavalry
By his great grandson, J. Forrest Green

Help the Membership Grow
Please share this membership form with someone who might be interested in helping to preserve and enhance the Mansfield Battlefield.