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The Daniel E. Sickles Civil War Roundtable

In association with

The White Plains Historical Society

Presents:

The American Civil War

A program series – open to the Public

Sherman’s Demons

with Founding Member of the Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York
Jim Santagata

December 3, 2014

Most Civil War enthusiasts know all about Sherman’s military accomplishments, but relatively few realize the myriad of personal demons he had to conquer and the depths from which he had to climb before he finally achieved military success. Sherman’s early life was filled with doubts and fears, failures and frustrations.

As he re-entered the army after the war had begun he was so certain he was not at all qualified to lead an army that he actually obtained, from none other than President Lincoln, a promise that he would never be trusted with an independent command! It wasn’t long before that promise was broken, and the nation’s newspapers were soon shouting that Sherman was insane!

So who was the real Sherman? In this talk Jim will examine the complex personality of this charismatic yet controversial general, and interpret Sherman’s life as a series of struggles for the order he so desperately craved in his life. And although he eventually conquered every one of the demons of his earlier life, it was an old familiar acquaintance that emerged, many years after the war had ended, as the one demon he could not conquer.

Jim Santagata

Jim is a 69 year resident of Brooklyn NY, and an Engineering graduate of the Cooper Union, where Lincoln’s famous speech in February 1860 is said to have won him the Presidency. He is a retired engineer from the food industry, where he spent his final and his favorite years working in the pasta industry. He now has plenty of time to enjoy his Civil War interests, his cycling and his life and travels with his wife Matti, although not necessarily in that order. They now split their retirement between their home in Brooklyn and their condo on Siesta Beach in Sarasota FL.

Jim was one of the founding members of the Civil War Forum of Metropolitan NY in 2009 after the group split from the CW Roundtable of NY. He has been the group’s Secretary since its founding, and is now the only one of the original officers who has held his original position for the organization’s entire existence. 

Programs are held at The Purdy House: 60 Park Ave. ♦ White Plains, NY 10603 at 7:30 pm

For further information, please contact: (914) 949-4679 • [email protected]

WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES By John F. Bailey. December 2, 2014 UPDATED December 2, 10:20 P.M.:

The city is preparing for the resumption of the French American School of New York Special Permit Apllication and Closure of Hathaway Lane Proposal Wednesday evening at 6:00 (not 6:30 P.M., as previously reported)  in City Hall. The public is not allowed to speak. However issues and comments may still be filed up to 10 days after tomorrow’s hearing resumption. Two new elements for Common Council consideration have been submitted this week:

Monday the Gedney Association released the findings of  a fire consultant the Association engaged to evaluate the effects of the proposed Hathaway Lane closure. The closure, according to the city’s staff report released  November 21, is a prerequisite for mitigation measures that the city staff deems  essential for  the FASNY proposed campus to be built on the former grounds of the Ridgeway Country Club.

According to Fire Pro, Inc., ( described by the Gedney Association as a fire protection engineering company), upon FirePro review of the Hathaway Lane closure for possible effects on public safety,  “the FASNY proposal will present a significant adverse impact on emergency and fire safety response…”

This, in Fire Pro opinion is because of “inefficient” access to the  neighborhood north of Ridgeway:   to wit: access to Gedney Esplanade and streets northeast of the proposed campus  is only accessible via Murchison Place or Bryant Avenue by fire fighters dispatched from Fire Station 7, located at the corner of Ridgeway and North Street

FirePro reports, in their opinion, forcing the  Murchison and Bryant Avenue routes would triple response times. The report has been forwarded to the city for consideration, since closure of Hathaway effects on public safety was not raised as an issue by the city staff and consultants.

In another development,  the husband-wife team of Ron and Marie Rhodes who have been most proactive in critiqueing   city department heads’ and consultants’  analyses of the FASNY mitigation proposal , have announced by letter to the Mayor and Common Council that they have delivered pictures and commentary to Amanda M.  Switzer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Their letter to Ms. Switzer  points out in detail how the property floods during rains and directly raising concersn that the presently “mitigated” FASNY site plan could lead to significant flooding. The Army Corps of Engineers continues to deliberate as to whether the Corps has jurisdiction over the FASNY property and subsequent “go” or “no go” over the appropriateness of the planned construction in the wetlands of the property.

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