Museum at Lasdon Park salutes the first modern war

A U.S. Cavalryman's uniform and saddle. JOYCE CORRIGAN PHOTO

A Memorial Day ceremony at the Westchester County Veterans Museum. GARY CORRIGAN PHOTO

By JOYCE CORRIGAN

Can’t resist checking your phone in bed? You’re in good company: Abraham Lincoln was so taken with the then-new electronic message technology — Samuel Morse’s telegraph — that, during major battles of the Civil War, he slept on a cot in the telegraph office. Lincoln is said to have sent 1,000 such bite-sized “lightning messages,” gathering intel, overseeing troop movements, issuing orders, and, yes, mobilizing political support.

Union Gen. Clinton B. Fisk's uniform, and his wife's ball gown. JOYCE CORRIGAN PHOTO

In short, he helped revolutionize military communication, which certainly helped the Union win the war.

An authentic wartime telegraph device is just one of many revelations in “The American Civil War: A War of Firsts” on view at the Westchester County Veterans Museum at Lasdon Park in Katonah. There will be a curator’s tour Sunday, Aug. 10, at 1 p.m., hosted by Mark Tolf.  

Featuring interactive displays, objects, weapons, uniforms and photos that explore the inventions and advanced techniques in warfare, medicine, weaponry, transportation and other vital advancements that emerged during the period between 1861 and 1865, it’s a reminder that veterans and military museums are not only places where the public can show respect and appreciation for veterans service and sacrifice but stand in awe at the significant military artifacts and personal memorabilia. Which, in most cases, provide concrete clues as to why one side triumphed over the other. 

“A terrible beauty” is how poet W.B. Yeats description of the 1916 Irish war of Independence, but it’s a phrase applicable to many momentous conflicts:  inevitably, it captures the contradictory nature of the event, acknowledging the horrifying violence as well as the transformative impact. Wars mean immense suffering, property destruction and unimaginable human cost to the men and women who served in them, but they also undeniably drive advancements in technology and civilization. The intensity and urgency necessitate rapid innovation, leading to breakthroughs in not only weaponry, but communication, medicine, and transportation. 

“We deliberately installed an authentic interactive telegraph at the entrance, and I always tell visitors it’s the world’s first cellphone, “ laughed the Veterans Museum curator, Mark Tolf. “That certainly gets the young people’s attention. But the telegraph was a military game-changer. Instead of relying on handwritten messages delivered by a man on horseback or on foot, now communication was practically instantaneous.” 

A collaborative effort between the Vietnam Veterans of America Westchester County Chapter 49, the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, and the county’s Veterans Service Agency, the Veterans Museum, founded in 1999, celebrates the story of the self-sacrifice and hardships of Westchester residents who answered their country’s call to duty from the Revolutionary War to the present.

“Veterans are a core audience at Lasdon,” noted Lasdon Park Director Jessica Schuler. “Both our Museum and Trail of Honor commemorate the local heroes who served over the last 200 years.” 

Some items in both the permanent and revolving collections are, in fact, donated by Westchester veterans, others are on loan from other military museums. The Trail of Honor — an outdoors extension of the museum — is a 1/3-mile wooded pathway featuring 15 memorials, including bronze sculptures of Westchester County vets of every war.  

“We will never forget their service,” Schuler said, “and why we are able to freely walk, learn, and grow in this beautiful space.”

This current exhibition ushers in a new era for the museum, Tolf pointed out.

“Changing to a single theme for the first time meant we can actually present a cohesive narrative about how a particular war unfolded,” he said, “Almost every visitor to this Civil War exhibition remarks on what fine condition the items on display are — considering they survived a war that happened almost 200 years ago.” 

The tactical use of the telegraph was not the only “first” of the conflict. Because of the use of  locomotives,  the Civil War was considered “the first railroad war.” Not only were trains used to move troops speedily to and from battlefields but to hospitals. Sometimes the train was the hospital. Significantly, the conflict also saw the establishment of the Hospital Corps, which helped develop a more efficient ambulance corps, triage system and hospital system. 

“The display of original surgical equipment is one people talk about a lot,” Tolf said. “Visitors get emotional about the fate of the wounded and what care for them was like back then. Interestingly, anyone working in the medical field today can easily pick out what the instruments on display were used for, as the basic design hasn’t changed much.”      

Despite their deadly backstories, antique firearms have always fascinated and been highly sought after by collectors, due not only to their rarity and historical significance, but outstanding craftsmanship. One impressive and pivotal gun at the museum is the Spencer rifle, whose seven-shot repeating capacity gave Union soldiers a fearsome edge over the Confederates. 

And perhaps little compares with the emotions elicited by the sight of military uniforms: the very fabrics, silhouettes and colors that heroes and heroines wore on or off the battlefield — and sometimes perished in. Among the intricate Union and Confederate military garb on display is the meticulously kept uniform of Union Gen. Clinton B. Fisk. Not only did Fisk command troops in significant Union victories — including the Siege of Vicksburg, which gave the Union control of the Mississippi River (effectively splitting the Confederacy in two) but he was also an ardent and highly effective abolitionist who contributed to post-War Reconstruction efforts aimed at aiding formerly enslaved people. He was the original benefactor of Fisk University, the African American liberal arts college established 1866 that was named in his honor. Just a year after he hung up his Union uniform. 

Lason Park & Arboretum is located at 2610 Amawalk Road, Katonah.