First Vice President:                   Rob Monroe, Editor       
Richard Forrester                       2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Second Vice President:                  Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
Shep Parsons                            RMonroe500@comcast.net   
March 2005 PROGRAM

Stephen W. Sears

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, 2005, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.) Enter
the basement door on the right side under the front steps.

Stephen W.  Sears worked for  American  Heritage  Publishing
for  24  years,  most of that time as a book editor.  He has
written or edited a dozen books on the Civil War,  including
a   biography   of   General  George  McClellan  (George  B.
McClellan: The Young Napoleon) and an edition of his  papers
(The  Civil  War  Papers  of  George B.  McClellan: Selected
Correspondence, 1860-1865); and campaign  histories  of  the
Peninsula   (To   the   Gates  of  Richmond:  The  Peninsula
Campaign); Antietam/Sharpsburg (Landscape  Turned  Red:  The
Battle  of  Antietam);  Chancellorsville; and most recently,
Gettysburg.                                                 

Praised by the New York Times Book Review as  "arguably  the
preeminent  living  historian of the war's eastern theater,"
Mr.  Sears has won numerous awards including three  Fletcher
Pratt  Awards  from  the New York Civil War Round Table (for
Chancellorsville, Antietam and Gettysburg).   He  makes  his
home in Connecticut.                                        

Reminder

March 15th is the final deadline to pay your Richmond  Civil
War Round Table dues for 2005.  If you have not already done
so, please come prepared to  pay  your  dues  at  the  March
meeting.                                          Thank you!

A great crowd turned out in Feburary meeting to hear 'Bud" speak!



Summary of the February Meeting


At the February meeting of  the  Richmond  Civil  War  Round
Table,  Shep  Parsons  introduced our speaker, Dr.  James I.
"Bud" Robertson, as "a gentleman, scholar and  legend."  The
popular Virginia Tech professor, historian and award-winning
author drew a great laugh from his audience by stating  that
Shep's  introduction  "makes  me feel old." Later, Robertson
admitted he is now teaching some  of  the  children  of  his
former students at Tech.  Even so, he has no plans of giving
up the classroom.  "If I stop teaching, I'll  get  old,"  he
quipped.                                                    

Turning  his attention to the Civil War, Robertson observed,
"Soldiers stepped forward because  politicians  failed."  He
praised  the gallantry shown by the men in battle.  Of those
fortunate  enough  to  come  home,  some  1.5  million  were
crippled  from  the  war.   Men without arms and legs became
familiar sites in the towns of  America.   Deaths  resulting
from  the Civil War necessitated the creation of 79 national
cemeteries.  The  war's  casualties  consumed  a  staggering
percentage  of the population.  By today's numbers, it would
be  equal  to  the  loss  of  about  11  million  Americans.
Robertson  lamented  the  loss  of  great  gifts  of art and
scientific discoveries that could have been  made  by  those
who  died  in the war, as well as the contributions of their
unborn children and grandchildren.                          

By the time of Appomattox, the war had spawned around  3,000
new  songs,  including  "Taps."  In addition to new weapons,
such as hand grenades, the war was mother to  inventions  we
now  take  for  granted,  like canned foods and can openers.
Women employed by factories -taking positions left vacant by
men  off  at  war  --  began wearing slacks when hoop skirts
proved to be impractical for their jobs.  The Civil War  saw
the  first clothes labeled with sizes and the first pairs of
shoes - one shoe designed specifically for the left foot and
one for the right.                                          

The war saw the creation of the Congressional Medal of Honor
and the establishment of Thanksgiving and  Memorial  Day  as
national  holidays.   The first paper currency was issued in
1862.   The  first  postal  money  orders   and   nationally
chartered  banks were established to allow an easier flow of
funds between soldiers at the front and families back  home.
The  words  "In  God  We  Trust"  first  began  to appear on
American currency.                                          

Robertson described  himself  as  a  "social  historian"  as
opposed  to  a  "military  historian." Before the Civil War,
explained Robertson, the federal government touched people's
lives in one way - it delivered their mail to the local post
office.  During the war,  home  delivery  of  the  mail  was
established  after  local  postmasters  complained about the
scenes of hysteria and grief that occurred at their  offices
when  families  received letters notifying them of the death
of a loved one.                                             

A person can never understand the United States until he  or
she  understands  the Civil War, insisted Robertson.  Before
the war, 11 of the 12 amendments to the Constitution limited
the  power  of  government.  After the Civil War, amendments
began to empower the federal government.  Robertson  forbids
his  students  from  using  the  term  "United  States" when
referring to the nation before the war.  If  we  had  indeed
been  united states, he said, we would never have fought the
war.                                                        

Robertson wrapped  up  his  remarks  to  the  RCWRT  with  a
statement  he makes to his students each semester.  "This is
your country.  Never forget who gave it to you."            

Bookseller Offers Discount to RCWRT Members 

History Out-of-Print, a business  specializing  in  military
history books and biographies, is offering a 10% discount to
members of the Richmond Civil War Round Table.  In  addition
to  out-of-print books, the business buys and sells rare and
antiquarian books.  History Out-of-Print offers hundreds  of
books  on  the  Civil War and features a free, no obligation
search service.                                             

David Ebrite                
History Out-of-Print        
130-C John Morrow Pkwy, #105
Gainesville, GA  30501      
1-770-532-5747              
Fax 1-770-532-0166          
www.historyoutofprint.com   

Upcoming Events

Saturday, April 2.                                          
The Friends  of  Petersburg  Battlefield  will  host  a  Pig
Roast-Cookout in memory of veterans on the 140th Anniversary
of the Fall of Petersburg.  The public is  invited  for  the
event being held from noon to dusk at Robert E.  Lee Park in
Petersburg.  Free tours of  the  battlefield  area  will  be
conducted  throughout  the  afternoon.   Donations  will  be
accepted towards the placement of Virginia Civil  War  Trail
signs  along  the  Flank  and Defense Roads.  The Friends of
Petersburg  Battlefield  is  a   grass   roots,   non-profit
organization  determined  to  restore  some  glory and, at a
minimum, identification to  forts  that  are  "dormant"  and
neglected.     Info:    Cheryl    Moody    (804)   895-1070,
brickhouserun@aol.com or:                                   
www.craterroad.com/friendsofthebattlefield.html

Thursday, April 7.                                          
"When War Came This  Way:  Women's  Experiences  During  the
Civil War in Virginia," lecture by retired Brig.  Gen.  John
W.  Mountcastle.  In every Virginia community, women endured
anxiety  and  heartbreak, trauma and quiet privation.  Their
varied experiences and reactions are  the  subject  of  this
lecture by RCWRT member Jack Mountcastle.  A 32-year veteran
of the U.S.  Army, he taught at the U.S.   Military  Academy
at  West  Point  and  later  commanded  the  Army  Center of
Military History in Washington.  Lecture begins at  noon  at
the  Virginia  Historical  Society on Boulevard in Richmond.
Info: www.vahistorical.org or (804) 358-4901.

Saturday, April 9.                                          
Historian and RCWRT member Dr.  John Coski will sign  copies
of his new book, The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most
Embattled Emblem, at the Museum of  the  Confederacy  on  E.
Clay  St.   in downtown Richmond.  Book signing from noon to
5pm, talk at 3pm.                                           
Info: www.moc.org or (804) 649-1861.

Chesterfield County Site Included on
List of Most Endangered Battlefields

At a February 24 news conference broadcast live  by  C-Span,
the  Civil  War Preservation Trust presented its list of the
ten most endangered battlefields in  America.   Included  on
the  list  are  battlefields  at  Franklin, TN; Raymond, MS;
Mansfield, LA; Kennesaw Mountain, GA;  Wilson's  Creek,  MO;
Morris  Island, SC; and Knoxville, TN.  Three Virginia sites
made the list including the  battlefields  at  Spotsylvania,
Manassas and Bermuda Hundred in Chesterfield County.        

Bermuda  Hundred  was  never  intended  to be a battlefield.
Instead, this peninsula jutting into  the  James  River  was
supposed  to  be  the  starting point for a victorious Union
effort to seize control of Richmond.  Unfortunately for  the
Union   cause,  cautiousness  and  mediocrity  conspired  to
transform the Bermuda Hundred  Campaign  into  a  series  of
bloody  but  inconclusive  battles that eventually developed
into grim trench warfare.                                   

Today, the fate of the Bermuda  Hundred  battlefields  seems
equally grim.  Most of the siege lines and battlefields have
already  succumbed  to  sprawl.   Chesterfield  County   has
protected  122  acres of hallowed ground associated with the
Bermuda Hundred Campaign, creating a chain  of  small  parks
that  protect  isolated  parts  of  the  battlefields.   The
National Park Service has protected some additional land  at
Parker's  Battery  and nearby Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling).
However, much more work  needs  to  be  done.   Ware  Bottom
Church,  the site of fighting on May 20, 1864, is considered
the most threatened.  Commercial development along Route  10
is  also  having  an adverse effect on the remaining Bermuda
Hundred battlefields.                                       

RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2005

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                                             Many thanks!

Information may be emailed to RMonroe500@comcast.net   
or
Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Rob Monroe, Editor     
2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23228-3040