JOIN US FOR CWRTDC'S NEXT 

HYBRID (IN-PERSON AND ON-LINE) MEETING

AT FORT MYER AND VIA ZOOM

with
​
TIMOTHY B. SMITH

who will discuss 

"The Real Horse Soldiers: Grierson's Raid"


Thursday, April 20, 2023

(Note Change in Day, to accommodate the Club)


in the Abrams/Chafee Room 

at Patton Hall Officers' Club
214 Jackson Avenue, Ft. Myer, VA  22211

(take the elevator to the right as you enter the building and press Floor 2 or

take the stairs to up two levels)


Schedule for In-Person Meeting 

(See Below for Schedule for Remote Attendees)

5:30 pm ET: Social Period at Club for In-Person Attendees (cash bar)(Optional)   
6:30 pm ET: Dinner Served
6:30 pm ET: Start of Meeting/Introductions
6:45 pm ET: Start of Mini-Presentation Hosted by John Anderson
7:00 pm ET: Start of Speaker Presentation and Q&A
8:30 pm ET: Meeting Adjourned



Please note our Covid policies and requirements before registering, available by clicking HERE or downloading it from HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c-94whtjSI721WjwMN4aJ6j21ZWI6jcW/view). 


TO MAKE AND PAY FOR RESERVATIONS, USE THE MODULE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF OUR WEBSITE AT

https://cwrtdc-meetings.blogspot.com/

THE DEADLINE FOR MAKING RESERVATIONS IS APRIL 5

If you have any problems making reservations online or would like to know about alternatives to making reservations or payments online, please email admin@cwrtdc.org.

Non-CWRTDC members must make reservations and remit payment online


Unfortunately, cancellations after the due date are non-refundable, as the CWRTDC must pay for the number of dinners ordered regardless of the actual attendance)



Attendees will need to enter For Myer by following the instructions  available by clicking HERE
(also see directions here) or (download them in pdf here)

Interactive Public Transportation Options are HERE



OR JOIN US VIA ZOOM


Schedule for Remote Attendees:

6:00 pm ET: Zoom Platform Opens for Remote Attendee Social Period (Optional)

6:30 pm ET: Remote Attendees Connected to In-Person Meeting

6:30 pm ET: Start of Meeting/Introductions

6:45 pm ET: Start of Mini-Presentation with John Anderson

7:00 pm ET: Start of Speaker Presentation and Q&A

8:30 pm ET: Meeting Adjourned

  

Or point your browser to the following link and use the Meeting ID and passcode shown below:
Zoom "Join A Meeting" Page: https://zoom.us/join
Meeting ID: 737 7733 3091
Passcode: Zoom1861

Or dial in by your location:

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 828 9304 8523
Passcode: 24641769

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcZG7EOkvV

For a cheat sheet on how to use Zoom's control features click HERE


About the Topic:

Benjamin Grierson’s Union cavalry thrust through Mississippi is one of the most well-known operations of the Civil War. There were other simultaneous operations to distract Confederate attention from the real threat to Vicksburg posed by U.S. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee, but Grierson’s operation -- mainly conducted with two Illinois cavalry regiments -- has become the most famous . . . and for good reason. For 16 days (April 17 to May 2) Grierson led Confederate pursuers on a high-stakes chase through the entire state of Mississippi, entering the northern border with Tennessee and exiting its southern border with Louisiana. The daily rides were long, the rest stops short, and the tension high. 


Ironically, the man who led the raid was a former music teacher who some say disliked horses. Throughout the raid, he displayed outstanding leadership and cunning; destroyed railroad tracks; burned trestles and bridges; freed slaves; and created as much damage and chaos as possible. Grierson’s Raid broke a vital Confederate rail line at Newton Station that supplied Vicksburg and, perhaps most importantly, consumed the attention of the Confederate high command. While Confederate Lt. Gen. John Pemberton at Vicksburg and other Southern leaders looked in the wrong directions, Grant moved his entire Army of the Tennessee across the Mississippi River below Vicksburg, spelling the doom of that city, the Confederate chances of holding the river, and perhaps the Confederacy itself. 


Novelists have attempted to capture the larger-than-life cavalry raid in the popular imagination, and Hollywood reproduced the daring cavalry action in The Horse Soldiers, a 1959 major motion picture starring John Wayne and William Holden. Although the film replicates the raid’s drama and high-stakes gamble, cinematic license chipped away at its accuracy. Based upon years of research and presented in gripping, fast-paced prose, Timothy B. Smith’s The Real Horse Soldiers: Benjamin Grierson’s Epic 1863 Civil War Raid through Mississippi captures the high drama and tension of the 1863 horse soldiers in a modern, comprehensive, academic study.  


Dr. Smith's talk, based on the book, will bring you along for the ride.  



 

About the Speaker:

Timothy B. Smith (Ph.D. Mississippi State University, 2001) is a veteran of the National Park Service and currently teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin. In addition to numerous articles and essays, he is the author, editor, or co-editor of more than twenty books with several university and commercial presses. His books have won numerous book awards, his trilogy on the American Civil War’s Tennessee River campaign (Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth) winning a total of nine book awards. He is currently finishing a five-volume study of the Vicksburg Campaign for the University Press of Kansas and a new study of Albert Sidney Johnston for LSU Press. He lives with his wife Kelly and daughters Mary Kate and Leah Grace in Adamsville, Tennessee.


----------------------------




RSVP TO JOIN US FOR A TOUR OF THE ACWM ON MAY 6


On Saturday, May 6, 2023, members and friends and guests of the CWRTDC and other CW history enthusiasts are ALL invited to participate in an exciting special tour of the American Civil War Museum (ACWM) at Historic Tredegar in Richmond, Virginia. Located in downtown Richmond on the James River, the Museum sits on the site of the Tredegar Iron Works. Cannons made at Tredegar fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter!

Travel to Richmond traffic-free by joining other members of the group aboard Amtrak’s Northeast Regional Train #65, departing from Washington’s Union Station (station code: “WAS”) on Saturday, May 6 at 7:00 am, and arriving at Richmond’s Main Street Station (station code: “RVM”) at 9:32am.  Or feel free to make other travel arrangements and then join us at the museum.

Those of us taking the train will return later that day on Amtrak’s Northeast Regional Train #124 (Note: we previously indicated the train number as #99, but the correct train number is #124), departing from Richmond’s Main Street Station at 4:57pm, and arriving back at Washington’s Union Station at 7:55pm.  (Please note that purchasing tickets for seats on these trains is your own responsibility. Go to  www.Amtrak.com now to secure your seats at the best available rate. Be sure to select Richmond’s Main Street Station when making your online reservations, and not Richmond’s Staples Mill Station.

For those who choose to drive to Richmond and the Museum, outdoor parking is available on site and is free for all members of our group. The Museum is located at 480 Tredegar Street, one mile from Main Street Station -- an approximately 20-minute walk along Richmond’s beautiful Riverfront Canal path, or a 6-minute taxi ride via Main Street. 

 We will assemble at 10:15am on Brown’s Island at the Emancipation and Freedom Monument, a 3-minute walk from the Museum. 

Our tour, guided by ACWM Director of Programs Kelly Hancock, will begin at 10:30am with an exploration of how the Civil War impacted Richmond. What were women, children, free people of color, and enslaved African American people doing during the War? What were conditions really like in prison camps?  We will encounter local stories of triumph and tragedy that exemplified life – and death – for many people during the War.  We will then enjoy lunch on the Museum grounds.

Following lunch, Ms. Hancock will give us a tour of the Museum’s permanent exhibit, “A People’s Contest.” We will be immersed in the chaos and complexity of the Civil War at a human level, discovering stories of diverse Americans struggling through the challenging war years.

 As a special treat, our group will be personally greeted by ACWM President and CEO, Dr. Rob Havers.

Prior to coming to the Museum, Dr. Havers served as President/CEO of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, President/CEO of the George C. Marshall Foundation, Director of the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and as a Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He is a published author with several books and articles to his credit, and he is a widely respected lecturer on military history.

The special, discounted rate for our group - including admission to the Museum, our guided tours on Brown’s Island and in the Museum, and lunch – is $40 for Adults, $38 for Seniors, Veterans, Teachers & Students, and $31 for Youth (ages 6-17). Please remit payment in advance by using our module located on the right hand side of our webpage at https://cwrtdc-meetings.blogspot.com/

To RSVP and for more information, email CWRTDC member Scott Sanger at scottsanger14@gmail.com.  The deadline to RSVP is Saturday, April 29, one week in advance of the trip, but the sooner you can make your reservation, the better.  Please act now, and we hope to see you soon!





_________________

CWRTDC'S PREVIOUS MEETING

VIA ZOOM

"THE OPIUM-ADDICTED, PISTOL-TOTING PREACHER 
AND THE FIRST FEDERAL USCTS"

presentation by
BILL & DONNA BURTCH

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

6:00 pm ET: Zoom Platform Open for Social Period (Optional)
6:30 pm: Start of Meeting/Business Discussion
6:45 pm: Mini-Presentation 
7 pm: Speaker Presentation and Q&A
8:30 pm: Meeting Adjourned

Meeting URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/73777333091?pwd=V05ZQm9iSDlLSHcvSk4zYTJuMGpidz09

Or point your browser to the following link and use the Meeting ID and passcode shown below:
Zoom "Join A Meeting" Page: https://zoom.us/join
Meeting ID: 737 7733 3091
Passcode: Zoom1861

Or dial in by your location:

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 828 9304 8523
Passcode: 24641769

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcZG7EOkvV

For a cheat sheet on how to use Zoom's control features click HERE


About the Topic:

Donna and William Burtch (sister and brother) are the authors of W.G. - the Opium-Addicted Pistol Toting Preacher Who Raised the First Federal African-American Union Troops, which is the story of William Gould Raymond, a little-known history of the Civil War that is well worth telling.  W.G. was appointed by Lincoln as chaplain of the U.S. Hospital in Washington, DC in 1862, and he is one of the original advocates of enlisting African-American troops into the Union Army.

About the Speakers:

Donna Burtch is an author and a poet.  She settled in Central Ohio in 1976, where she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and completed graduate studies at The Methodist Theological School.  Donna's career was in marketing and fund-raising for firms, non-profits, and universities.  She and her family reside in Columbus, Ohio.

 

Donna's brother, William Burtch, is also a published author of fiction and essays.  After graduate school at Miami University of Ohio, he worked for many years in the investment business, but now devotes his time to writing.  Bill also lives in Columbus  


___________________



CWRTDC'S PREVIOUS MEETING

VIA ZOOM

​
"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER
A NOISY, FEARLESS LIFE"

presentation by
ELIZABETH LEONARD
Wednesday, March 22, 2023


 

About the Topic:
Benjamin Franklin Butler was one of the most important and controversial military and political leaders of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Remembered most often for his uncompromising administration of the Federal occupation of New Orleans during the war, Butler reemerges in this lively narrative as a man whose journey took him from childhood destitution to wealth and profound influence in state and national halls of power. Prize-winning biographer Elizabeth D. Leonard chronicles Butler's successful career in the law defending the rights of the Lowell Mill girls and other workers, his achievements as one of Abraham Lincoln's premier civilian generals, and his role in developing wartime policy in support of slavery's fugitives as the nation advanced toward emancipation. Leonard also highlights Butler's personal and political evolution, revealing how his limited understanding of racism and the horrors of slavery transformed over time, leading him into a postwar role as one of the nation's foremost advocates for Black freedom and civil rights, and one of its notable opponents of white supremacy and neo-Confederate resurgence.

Butler himself claimed he was "always with the underdog in the fight." Leonard's nuanced portrait will help readers assess such claims, peeling away generations of previous assumptions and characterizations to provide a definitive life of a consequential man.



​


About the Speaker: 

Elizabeth D. Leonard is Colby College's Gibson Professor of History, Emerita. She earned her Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of California, Riverside, in 1992, and is the author of several articles and seven books on the Civil War-era including: Yankee Women: Gender Battles in the Civil War; All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies; and Lincoln’s Forgotten Ally: Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt of Kentucky, which was named co-winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize in 2012. Her most recent book, Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life, was also named a finalist for the 2023 Lincoln Prize.




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