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Rodman cannon on Fort Alcatraz in the 1860s
 


 

Civil War Sites in the Bay Area

 

Alcatraz National Park

https://www.nps.gov/alca/index.htm

 

Ferry to Alcatraz

https://www.cityexperiences.com/san-francisco/city-cruises/alcatraz/

 

Benicia Museum at the Camel Barns

https://beniciahistoricalmuseum.org/

 

Camp Reynolds, Angel Island State Park

https://angelisland.org/history/camp-reynolds/

 

Fort Point National Historic Monument

https://www.nps.gov/fopo/index.htm

 

Civil War Organizations

 

California Military Museum

http://www.militarymuseum.org/

 

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

www.suvcw.org

 

The American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia

www.ACWM.org

 

 

Civil War Roundtables (Monthly meetings with talks about the Civil War)

 

San Francisco Civil War Roundtable (currently suspended)

 

Peninsula Civil War Roundtable - every 3rd Thursday at noon, Redwood City

https://www.peninsulacivilwarroundtable.org/

 

South Bay Civil War Round Table - Last Tues. of the month 6:30 pm in San Jose

https://www.sbcwrt.org/

 

Sacramento Civil War Roundtable - go to webpage for schedule

http://www.sacramentocwrt.com/

 

Re-enactors

 

2nd California Cavalry, Co. F

http://www.californiacavalry.us/index.html

 

American Civil War Association

https://www.acwa.org/

 

National Civil War Association

https://ncwa1863.org/

 

Reenactors of the American Civil War

https://www.racw.org/

 

California Historical Artillery Society

https://www.warhorse.org/

 

 

Recommended Books

BOOKS ON FORT ALCATRAZ

*Fortress Alcatraz Guardian of the Golden Gate by John Martini

(Berkeley, Ten Speed Press, 1990)

The definitive book about the construction of the fort, its armaments and defenses, and the island's strategic value in protecting Northern California.

Forts of the American Frontier by Ron Field

(New York, Osprey Publishing, 2011)

A well illustrated book on the development and the variety of forts built in the far west of the United States. Also covers life in the forts and their roles in different conflicts. Includes Fort Point and Fort Alcatraz.

 

BOOKS ON CALIFORNIA AND THE CIVIL WAR
 

*The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War by Leonard Richards

(New York, Alfred Knopf, 2007)

California came into the Union as a free state, and yet nine years later the state legislature voted for secession. How this came to be is a fascinating story well detailed by Richards, and he makes a good case that the gold rush was a major factor in the events leading up to the Civil War.

The Civil War: Northern California's Unrecognized Valor by John G. Edmonds

(Belmont, Star Publishing Company, 2010)

This paperback book provides information about Californians who served the Union cause and the specific ways and places they did so. It also gives a greater context to the politics and passions of the time in San Francisco, and the many ways California influenced the war even from so great a distance. It gives a special space to the men of San Mateo County who served the Union cause.

*Especially recommended
 

 



Book Review

Title of book: The World Rushed In, published by Simon and Schuster in 1983
Author: J.S. Holiday
Review done by: Brad Schall

J.S. Holiday spent 30 years in writing this book and careful details makes it a must read for California History.  Documentarian Ken Burns featured J. S. Holliday in his PBS series The West, and once said "No one writes better about California's irresistible past". The diary of William Swains daughter, Sara, had proudly preserved her fathers gold rush diary.

Williams diary captured me to the point that I could imagine him by the campfire every evening, recording the days events. I got to know his family and friends by the way they provided material for this book. I particularly enjoyed the change in California from the stagecoach to the train.

The book reaches out beyond William Swain's diary and includes sidebars on the gold rush experience. Swain was a typical aquanaut who left the east coast, traveled to California, lived in a mining camp, saw the elephant and returned home to New York. What sets this book apart is the correspondence to Swain in California from his wife, Sabrina, and his brother George.

 


 

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