Local Civil War engagements discussed at Cape Roundtable

More than 30 people heard accounts of how the Civil War directly touched this area Sunday at a meeting of the Cape Girardeau Civil War Rountable.

This month's meeting featured "The Civil War in Our Area -- A Fight For Control of the Rivers," a presentation by Fred Keller, a club member who is a former reporter and photographer at KFVS12 and former news director of KZIM radio.

Local waterways were key in transporting supplies to the Southern states and the Union army considered it imperative that the confederates were prevented from gaining control of them, Keller said. He spoke of the Civil War engagements in Cairo, Ill., Mound City, Ill., Columbus/Belmont, Ky., Paducah, Ky., New Madrid, Mo., and forts Henry and Donelson.

One happened in early 1861, when Confederate troops were guarding the Mississippi River and New Madrid, Mo., with two forts, one of them made out of bags of corn, Keller said. They did not have adequate provisions to guard New Madrid but thought Union troops wouldn't be able to cross the Great Mingo Swamp because of the winter's cold and miserable conditions, Keller said. However, Union troops were able to cross the swamp, and surprised the Southern troops. They quickly evacuated New Madrid, leaving meals cooking on their stoves and candles burning, 10,000 tents and a lot of ammunition, he said.

Keller said one of the most significant North-South encounters in this area was in September 1861. The day after Ulysses S. Grant arrived in Cairo, Ill., as regional commander of the Union forces, he received word that Southern troops were on their way from Columbus, Ky., to occupy Paducah, Ky. Grant moved troops in Paducah quickly, perhaps hours before the Southern troops, who were 10 or 15 miles out of town, Keller said. He secured the roads, put guards on the main roads and on the riverfront. The Southern troops retreated back to Columbus. This was arguably one of Grant's biggest victories, where not a shot was fired and he never even saw the enemy, Keller said.

Club members say they have a common bond: They love history, and Civil War history in particular.

"Almost everyone in this group, I believe, had an ancestor who served in the Civil War," said Roundtable president Mike Shain. "My great-grandmother lost her husband, her father and her brother all at the Battle of Chickamauga. ... I heard these stories from my grandmother."

The Roundtable was started in 1993 by Dr. Frank Nickell, head of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University, for people interested in the Civil War. They meet every third Sunday at Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau to study and discuss the Civil War and to visit local war sites. The club, led by Shain, maintains a membership of 45 to 50 members.

The next meeting March 18 will feature the presentation "Spain and the Civil War" by Dr. Wayne Bowen.

Pertinent address:

2949 Perryville Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.