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August 2006

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rcwrt.org

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Sheppard Parsons, President            Rob Monroe, Editor       
107 Rose Hill Road                     2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Richmond, VA 23229                     Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
shep.parsons@suntrust.com              RMonroe500@comcast.net   
August 2006 PROGRAM

Noah Andre Trudeau
"Black Soldiers' Experience:
History of the 4th Division, 9th Corps"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 8, 2006, 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.

Noah Andre Trudeau is the author of the  celebrated  trilogy
on  the  end  of the Civil War: Bloody Roads South, The Last
Citadel, and Out of the Storm.   His  recent  works  include
Like  Men  of  War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865
and Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage.  He has won the  Civil
War  Round  Table of New York's Fletcher Pratt Award and the
Jerry Coffey Memorial Book Prize.  Mr.  Trudeau is a history
graduate  of  the State University of New York at Albany.  A
25-year veteran of National Public Radio, Trudeau supervised
NPR's   cultural   programming  and  produced  award-winning
programs on everything from jazz to classics, opera to folk.
Mr.  Trudeau lives in Washington, D.C.  and now devotes more
time to writing.                                            

Like all of his other  books,  Trudeau's  Like  Men  of  War
received  great  critical acclaim.  The Miami Herald lauded,
"A remarkable contribution to Civil War history.   There  is
so  much  astonishing material here that Like Men of War can
be read even by Civil War addicts with something  very  like
the thrill of new discovery."                               

The  Raleigh News and Observer proclaimed, "An amazing story
of triumph  over  adversity..The  most  comprehensive  study
available  of  the  battlefield  experiences  of  the nearly
180,000 blacks who donned the Union blue."                  

The Washington  Times  stated,  "This  book  is  a  chilling
reminder  that  the  echoes  of  an  era some 130-plus years
distant still resonate today."                              


Summary of July Meeting

At the July meeting of the Richmond Civil War  Round  Table,
John  J.   Fox  III  spoke on the 35th Georgia Infantry, the
subject of his book, Red Clay to Richmond.   Though  he  now
lives  in  Winchester,  Fox  -- the son of RCWRT member John
Fox, Jr.  -- said it was an honor  to  be  speaking  in  his
hometown.                                                   

He  opened  his  presentation  with  the touching story of a
wounded Alabama soldier who approached a farmhouse  west  of
Rome,  Georgia  in  May  of 1864.  The soldier found only an
older lady at home and asked her if she  might  be  able  to
spare  some  food.   The woman gave him something to eat and
invited him to spend the night  in  a  spare  bedroom.   The
soldier  declined  telling  the woman he feared he might die
that night and he did not want to be a burden to  her.   The
woman  insisted  he  sleep  in the spare bed and the soldier
eventually acquiesced.                                      

The next morning the woman arose and went to  check  on  the
wounded  soldier.   She opened the door to the spare bedroom
only to find it empty with the window opened.  Going outside
she found the soldier lying beneath a tree.  He was dead.   

Fox recounted the story of seven members of the 35th Georgia
and their first year of war.  The men arrived in Richmond in
1861  and trained at Camp Lee, the current location of Broad
Street station.  The new recruits entertained themselves  by
chasing  and  killing  rats.  The frivolity soon gave way to
seriousness when measles swept through the camp and  claimed
several Georgians among its victims.                        

In November the men boarded trains and left Richmond heading
north.  They went into winter quarters at Camp French on the
Potomac River between Fredericksburg and Washington.  It was
here that the members of the 35th were supplied with weapons
but  these  were  merely  antiquated muskets.  The men again
fell under attack, not by the Union  army  but  by  disease.
This  time  it  was  not only measles but typhoid that swept
through the camp.                                           

In March of 1862 the 35th abandoned the  Potomac  River  and
fell back to Fredericksburg.  On April 9, 1862 one prophetic
Confederate wrote that  he  hoped  the  war  would  continue
another  three  years  (to  coincide  with  Lincoln's term).
Eventually the men were ordered to Richmond and sent by boat
from  Rocket's  Landing  to Yorktown.  There they would join
Magruder's men in fighting McClellan on the Peninsula.   The
35th experienced their first combat death when a soldier was
killed  by  friendly  fire  in  the  nighttime  darkness  at
Yorktown.                                                   

It would be the first of many battles for the Georgians.  In
the  coming  months  they  would  fight  at   Seven   Pines,
Mechanicsville,   Cold  Harbor,  Frayser's  Farm  and  Cedar
Mountain.   The   Georgians   were   heavily   involved   at
Chancellorsville  the  following year and eventually ran out
of room on their battle flag to include more engagements. Of
the  seven  soldiers  Fox detailed, only three would live to
return home.                                                


RCWRT's Fall Field Trip Set for October


Almost  everyone  has  visited  Jamestown,   Yorktown,   and
Williamsburg,  but  we  see  them  as 17th- and 18th-century
sites.  All three places played roles in the Civil  War  and
boast  earthworks  or  buildings  that  speak to those later
roles.  For the Richmond Civil War Round Table's fall  field
trip we have enlisted the services of expert guides who have
helped develop Civil War  tours  of  these  famous  Colonial
sites.   The  Saturday, October 28 date will allow us to see
the Yorktown fortifications after their annual  autumn  trim
and  to  tour  Jamestown  without  the  company of the usual
regiments of mosquitoes and flies.                          

The bus leaves at 8am and returns at 6pm.  Our  guides  will
be David Riggs (curator at Colonial National Historical Park
and author of Embattled Shrine: Jamestown in the Civil War),
Dr.    Adrian  Wheat  (author  of  guidebook  to  Civil  War
Yorktown) and Robin Reed (Director of Historic Area Programs
at  Colonial  Williamsburg Foundation and formerly Executive
Director of The Museum of the  Confederacy).   Meet  at  the
James  River Bus Lines parking lot on N.  Allen St.  between
Leigh and Broad.  Bring your own lunch.                     

The field trip costs just $25 per person and will be limited
to  53  people so please register soon to reserve your seat.
Complete the form below and bring it with  your  payment  to
the  August  meeting  or enclose the registration form and a
check (payable to RCWRT) and mail to:                       

Richard Grosse	       
14187 Hickory Oaks Ln. 
Ashland, VA 23005      


Name_______________________________________________________________________

Address____________________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip___________________________________________________________

Phone number and/or Email address__________________________________________

Number of seats requested_______________x $25 = (total payment)$___________



Bus Tour Follows Lee's Retreat
from Petersburg to Appomattox

When the nine and a half month siege  of  Petersburg  ended,
Confederate  forces under General Robert E.  Lee began their
retreat.   Although  Southern  troops  made  the   necessary
decision  to  evacuate  Petersburg,  they  were not ready to
accept defeat.  With General Grant's  soldiers  in  pursuit,
the  Confederates  raced to reach supplies and hoped to join
General Johnston's forces in North Carolina.   However,  the
Federals  were  determined  to  do  everything they could to
destroy Lee's Army.                                         

On  Saturday,   September   30   the   Petersburg   National
Battlefield  Park  is  sponsoring a bus tour that will visit
some of the sites where fighting occurred between Petersburg
and  Appomattox  Court  House such as Sutherland Station and
Sailor's Creek.  The bus leaves at 9am from  the  Petersburg
Battlefield's  main  visitor  center  and returns about 5pm.
There is a fee for this tour and reservations are now  being
taken.   For  more information call Tracy Chernault at (804)
265-8244.                                                   


Univ. of Richmond Class Explores the
Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley

The beautiful Shenandoah Valley was the "Breadbasket of  the
Confederacy"  and served as an "avenue of invasion" for both
the Federal and Confederate armies during the war.  Although
the  Valley  saw nearly continuous military action from 1861
to 1865, the major campaigns of 1862 and 1864 will serve  as
the  primary  focus  for  a  new  course  this  fall  at the
University of Richmond.                                     

Classes will meet from  7-9pm  on  four  consecutive  Monday
evenings  beginning  on  October 23.  The course will review
the fascinating "Valley  Campaign"  of  General  "Stonewall"
Jackson,  the  impacts  of war on the civilian population of
the Valley, and the critically important summer campaign  of
1864,  during  which  Federal  forces  seized the Valley.  A
daylong bus tour of selected battlegrounds of the  1862  and
1864  campaigns  on November 18 allows students to walk over
the actual ground that was fought upon.                     

The non-credit course in UR's School of  Continuing  Studies
is  taught  by  the  U.S.   Army's  former Chief of Military
History,  Richmond  Civil  War  Round  Table   member   Jack
Mountcastle.  To enroll or to request more information, call
(804) 289-8133 or visit www.richmond.edu (choose "Continuing
Studies" then look at "Non-credit Courses").                


Tour Examines Petersburg's Churches During Siege

Churches are  often  seen  as  a  refuge  -  a  place  where
occupants can find peace, safety, and a quiet place in which
to pray.  Spirituality had extra meaning to  those  citizens
of  Petersburg  who had to endure the threat of death as the
city came under siege.  Yet, in 1864 and 1865, even churches
were  not  immune  to  the  shelling  put forth by the Union
forces.                                                     

On Saturday,  August  26  the  National  Park  Service  will
sponsor  a  walking tour that will take participants to some
of the city's most historic places of worship  such  as  St.
Paul's  Church  where General Robert E.  Lee attended Sunday
services.  During this walk you will be able  to  understand
how  it  might  have  felt  for civilians once they realized
there was no place to hide.                                 

For more details, call the Petersburg  National  Battlefield
at (804) 732-3531, extension 202.                           


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RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2006

Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Rob Monroe, Editor     
2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23228-3040