Presented by Scott Bowden, Author and Historian
Location: Ol' South Pancake House
Dinner at 6PM followed by program at 7:00PM
A common critcism of General Robert E. Lee's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg (and elsewhere) is that he did not give clear and direct commands to his subordinates. The most famous and hotly debated example were the orders supposedly given to Richard Ewell on July 1, 1863 to take Cemetery Hill "if practicable." The failure of Ewell to advance at that moment quite possibly was the turning point in the battle.
But were Lee's orders unclear? Was the command given to Ewell "discretionary" giving him the lattitude to decide whether to advance or were they given "with discretion" with a clear goal in mind and the methods left up to the commander at the front? The answers to these questions and others concerning the leadership style of Robert E. Lee will be the subject of Scott Bowden's talk on May 14th.
Scott's position is that from the time Robert E. Lee ascended to command of the force he renamed the Army of Northern Virginia, he demonstrated a hands-on approach (yes, hands-on) to commanding his army in battle. Lee was not an army commander who issued vague instructions to his lieutenants. He had an understanding of what was happening on the field and a grasp of the details of combat. Scott's talk will focus on an examination of the facts involving Lee's command model on the battlefield..
Scott Bowden is a graduate of Texas Christian University and nine-time award-winning author of 25 works connected to Napoleonic and American military history. Two of his books are included in the curriculum of the School for Advanced Military Studies at the US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
One of those works, titled Last Chance for Victory: Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg Campaign, was also named to the Chief of Staff Air Force Recommended Reading List---only the second Civil War title ever to receive such a distinction. Last Chance for Victory also won five literary prizes, including the Douglas Southall Freeman American History Award.
His current project is a multi-volume work titled Robert E Lee at War: The Mind and Method of a Great American Soldier.
Scott is an excellent presenter. His talks are informative, interesting and thought provoking. Make sure you mark your calendar for this event. See you on the 14th!
Dr. Robert Maberry, McMurry University
Location: Texas Civil War Museum (admission free to FWCWRT members)
Museum Opens at 6:00 for light refreshments and visiting the collection
Program begins at 7:00 PM
Flags were one of the primary means of communication during the Civil War. Not only did they tell the story of their unit, they were also the way soldiers maintained cohesion in the midst of the fog of war on the battlefield. Many a Civil War soldier died either carrying, defending or attempting to capture a unit flag. The flags of both Union and Confederate forces were their most valued possession. Consequently, a good many survived the War and were "brought home" to be saved.
We are fortunate in Fort Worth in that one of the finest collections of Civil War flags is at our Texas Civil War Museum. The flags at the Museum are actually two collections - one owned by Ray Richey and the other owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. At this time there are 29 of these magnificent flags on display in the Museum. Our meeting this month is at the Museum and will feature a guided tour by the foremost historian on Civil War flags, Dr. Robert Maberry.
Dr. Maberry is a pioneer in the field of Vexillology (the scholarly study of flags) and an authority on historic Texas flags and symbols. He was chief consultant for the Texas Historical Commission’s Historic Flags of Texas Project. Dr. Maberry organized and served as curator for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s groundbreaking exhibition “Texas Flags 1836-1941.” Dr. Maberry wrote the award-winning book Texas Flags in conjunction with the exhibition. In 2009, Dr. Maberry was appointed assistant professor at McMurry University. He maintains his passion for Texas flags and is continuing his research on the San Jacinto battle flag and its artist-creator, James H. Beard.
Don't miss this opportunity to visit the very fine Texas Civil War Museum and learn more about an important part of their collection. See you on the 9th!
Presented by Frank O'Reilly, Historian, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Location: Ol' South Pancake House, University Drive, Fort Worth
Dinner: 6PM - Program begins at 7:00PM
OK, I know that with each of these announcements I make it sound like the program will be the best ever. My hope is that I can do justice to the excellent people we are so fortunate to have present to our group. I think our track record is pretty good and I can't think of any disappointments. However, I am not exagerating when I say that this month's presentation by Frank O'Reilly, Historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NBP, on "The Death of Stonewall Jackson" is a must see.
Frank has been doing this presentation (really it is a performance) for many years. He started his career with the NPS at the Fairfield Plantation in Guinea Station - site of Jackson's death. As he was giving his talks to visitors, he kept adding more details until he developed the minute by minute account of Jackson's death he will be presenting on Tuesday. The end result is what I call a "One Act Play." It starts with the action on the battlefield at Chancellorsville; tells how, why and where he was wounded; recounts his harrowing journey from the battlefield to the plantation; gives details of the medical attention he received; and provides a detailed account of his last days including the visit from his wife.
No one knows more about this event than Frank O'Reilly. No one tells the story better. As Ed Bearss said last month when he heard that Frank was doing this talk: "Don't miss it. There won't be a dry eye in the room."
Presented by Ed Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus, National Park Service
Location: Ol' South Pancake House, University Drive, Fort Worth
Dinner: 6 PM Presentation: 7PM
Calling what went on at the beginning of the Civil War "military medicine" is the ultimate oxymoron. Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers died needlessly because of delayed and inadaquate medical care. A wound of any kind was often fatal. If a wounded soldier did not die on the battlefield through loss of blood, there was a good chance they would die because of infection.
Thankfully, by the end of the War medical care had progressed tremendously. The Civil War was the ultimate medical laboratory and physicians (and their patients) were able to benefit by it. Likewise World War I increased the knowledge of how to care for a wounded soldier exponentially. By the onset of World War II miltary medicine had progressed to the point that a wounded soldier had a high survival rate. The how and why of what changed is the topic of the presentation on February 12th.
There simply is no better person to make this talk than the incomparable Ed Bearss. Not only is he one of the leading historians on all aspects of the Civil War, he had the personal experience of what happened to a wounded soldier in WW II.
I had the pleasure of attending this presentation last year. It is one of the best I have ever heard. It not only gives you an appreciation and understanding of the advances in military medicine, it also is a riveting real-life story of one of the best men of the "greatest generation."
See you on the 12th!
For more information, send email to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com.
Presentation by John Lundberg on the subject of his book
Dinner: 6PM Program: 7PM
Location: Ol' South Pancake House, University Drive, Fort Worth
The 2012 A. M. Pate, Jr. Award in Civil War History will be presented to John R. Lundberg at the January 8, 2013 Dinner Meeting of the Fort Worth Civil War Round Table for his book "Granbury's Texas Brigade: Diehard Western Confederates." The book combines extensive original research and thoughtful analysis to provide a deeper understanding of this important fighting force of Texans.
Early in the War Granbury's Texas Brigade suffered defeat at Fort Donelson, Arkansas Post and Vicksburg. A combination of poor leadership and the fact that many of the men were forced to serve as "dismounted cavalry" had a negative effect on the unit. Many of the Brigade returned home while others were imprisoned in Northern POW camps. Lundberg is able to show that a large percentage of the returnees enlisted in units back in Texas. Under better leadership the balance of the Brigade fought well and earned their reputation as one of the best units in the Confederate Army. His book is an excellent study of the process that Texans went through in their support of the Confederate cause.
Richard McCaslin, the winner of last year's Pate Award, had this to say about the book:
"This is the first detailed, analytical history of the brigade, and as such it more than pays homage to the memory of these diehard Texans. The author mixes extensive research with strong opinions to provide thoughtful insights for both laymen and scholars. He thus places the history of Granbury's Brigade squarely within the historical debate over such issues as Confederate command in the West, desertion, and Confederate nationalism, to name but a few well-considered topics."
And Andrew Wagenhofer of Civil War Books and Authors concluded his favorable review of the book with these comments:
"'Granbury's Texas Brigade' is a well researched and thoughtful military and social history study. Author John Lundberg not only describes how the brigade conducted battles but why they fought so well and for so long. One of the finest combat formations in the western theater has finally been accorded the coverage and quality of scholarship it deserves."
Please join me on January 8th for the presentation of the 2012 Pate Award to John Lundberg. He will also be presenting on the subject of his book. See you then!
For more information, send email to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com.
Presented by Jack Waugh, Author and Historian
Location: Ol' South Pancake House, University Drive, Fort Worth
Dinner: 6 PM Program: 7 PM
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was one of the two most important statements of policy—together with the Declaration of Independence—issued by a government authority in our history. This talk will track how it happened, how Lincoln came to embrace it--a revolutionary act reversing government support for slavery where it existed that had held since our founding. It will follow his thinking, the pressures he endured, the way he treaded so carefully through the political minefield that he had to cross. It will tell how he wrote it, and it will analyze the document, its perceived strengths and weaknesses, what slaves it freed and what slaves it didn’t and why, what he expected of it, and its impact. Finally we will see how Lincoln took the next critical and final step in early 1865 when he pushed, saw passed, and signed the 13th amendment that freed slaves everywhere and forever.
Jack Waugh is an award winning author and historian. He combines his background as a journalist and his meticulous research with an eye for a good story. His presentations are always interesting, enlightening and entertaining. Don't miss his presentation on the 11th. See you there!
Presented by John Michael Priest, Teacher, Historian, and Author
Location: Ol' South Pancake House Dinner: 6:00PM Program begins at 7:00PM
One of the most interesting things about studying history is that just when you think you have it "figured out", some new research is uncovered that challenges all of your assumptions. Most of us have a pretty good idea of what we think happened on the second day at Gettysburg. Our November meeting features John Michael Priest and his presentation "Stand to It and Give Them Hell - A New Look at the Second Day at Gettysburg" which will make us reassess what we know on this subject. Mike's "new" information is based on primary sources and here are some of the things he has uncovered. 1. Longstreet was not responsible for the late deployment of his Corps on the Second Day. 2. Sickles saved the Army of the Potomac by advancing his Third Corps to the Emmitsburg Road without being ordered to do so. 3. The fight for Pitzer's Woods which preceded Sickles' advance occurred about 2.5 hours before the officially stated time.
4. Time allowing: miscellaneous tidbits about Charles Hazlett's death at Little Round Top; Ambrose Wright's attack against the Angle; the real story of Joshua Chamberlain's defense of Vincent's Knoll.
Mike Priest has been writing Civil War history books since the 1980's and is the author of 14 books. He is best known for "Antietam: The Soldier's Battle." He has also written a two volume set on the Wilderness, a detailed account of what really happened at Pickett's Charge, the first Battalion level study of the Maryland campaign up through South Mountain and has a forthcoming book on the subject of his talk.
You don't want to miss this presentation. It should be a lively, interesting, and thought provoking evening. See you on the 13th!
Presented by Dr. Anne Bailey, Civil War Historian
Location: Ol' South Pancake House, University Drive, Fort Worth
Dinner: 6 PM Program starts at 7:00 PM
Who was George Henry Thomas? The well-known writer of Civil War history, Bruce Catton, thought Thomas was “certainly one of the four or five best soldiers on either side in the whole war.” So was Robert Edward Lee. But when the state of his birth seceded, Virginian Robert E. Lee elected to fight for the South; when his home state seceded, Virginian Georgia H. Thomas chose to go with the North. In defeat Lee became arguably the most famous of Civil War generals; in victory George Thomas faded from popular memory even though one twentieth-century author called Thomas the “third of the triumvirate who won the war for the Union” (along with Grant and Sherman). Lee and Thomas both died in 1870, neither man leaving a written record of his participation in the conflict. There are hundreds of books about Lee; there are only a handful of books about Thomas. ¬Lee became an American icon. Thomas, on the other hand, was not always treated kindly, even by Grant or Sherman. As a traitor to the South, most of his family repudiated him. Thomas had been awarded a sword in 1848 by the proud people of Southampton County, Virginia, for his service in the Mexican War. When the Civil War came he asked his sisters to send it to him; they declined. After the war they gave it not to their brother, but to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. Such was the fate of the talented and successful Virginian to serve in Union blue.
Dr. Anne J. Bailey is Professor Emeritus of history at Georgia College & State University, the public liberal arts college for the University of Georgia. She is the author or editor of eight books on the Civil War, numerous book chapters, and more than 300 articles and book reviews. Her books include Invisible Southerners: Ethnicity in the Civil War, War and Ruin: William T. Sherman and the Savannah Campaign, and The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood in the Autumn Campaigns of 1864, among others. Her books have been featured in The History Book Club and she has won several book awards. The Chessboard of War won The Richard Barksdale Harwell Book Award for the best book on the Civil War. Dr. Bailey is also general editor of “Great Campaigns of the Civil War,” published by the University of Nebraska Press, and she serves as editor of the SCWH Newsletter, a quarterly publication of the international Society of Civil War Historians.
For more information, send email to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com.
Presented by Dr. Steven Woodworth, Professor, TCU
Location: Ol' South Pancake House, University Drive, Fort Worth, Texas
Dinner: 6 PM Program: 7 PM
By mid-June 1864, William T. Sherman had advanced three quarters of the way from Chattanooga to Atlanta. The campaign had seen several sharp fights between elements of Sherman’s forces and the defending Confederate army of Joseph E. Johnston, but there had yet to be a major battle. That changed dramatically, as the last twenty-five miles to Atlanta saw five major engagements, four of them fought on the Confederate side by Johnston’s successor, the ever-combative John Bell Hood. Between them, Hood and Sherman fought out a thunderous finale to the four-month-long Atlanta Campaign and sealed the fate of the Confederacy.
STEVEN E. WOODWORTH is professor of history at Texas Christian University and author, co-author, or editor of 31 books. Born in Ohio and raised in Illinois, he graduated from Southern Illinois University, studied at the University of Hamburg, earned a PhD from Rice University, and went on to teach at Bartlesville Wesleyan College in Oklahoma, and Toccoa Falls College in Georgia. In 1997 he came to TCU, where he specializes in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Professor Woodworth is a two-time winner of the Fletcher Pratt Award, a two-time finalist for the Peter Seaborg Award of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War, and winner of the Grady McWhiney Award of the Dallas Civil War Round Table for lifetime contribution to the study of Civil War history. In 2012 he was named by the Princeton Review as one of “the Best 300 Professors” in the United States.
For more information, send email to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com.