Clark H. Lewis, President         Art & Carol Bergeron, Editors
P. O. Box 1122                    3901 Paces Ferry Road      
Richmond, VA 23218                 Chester, VA 23831-1239   

September 2002 PROGRAM

Gordon C. Rhea

"The Battle of Cold Harbor"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 10, 2002, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.)

Gordon C.  Rhea lives in Mt.  Pleasant, South  Carolina  but
is  a  native of Arlington, Virginia.  He holds a bachelor's
degree in history from Indiana University, a master's degree
in  history  from  Harvard  University, and a J.  D.  degree
from Stanford University Law School.  Rhea is a  partner  in
the  law  firm  of Alkon and Rhea, where he has worked since
1982.  He was Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel, Senate
Select  Committee on Intelligence Activities, in Washington,
D.   C.,  1975-1976;  Assistant  United   States   Attorney,
Washington  D.   C.,  1976-1981; and Assistant United States
Attorney, U.  S.  Virgin Islands, 1981-1982.  He is  married
and has two children.                                       

Rhea  is  the  author  of  a  number of books, including The
Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 (1994); The  Battles
for  Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern:
May 7-12, 1864 (1997); To the North Anna  River:  Grant  and
Lee,  May  13-25, 1864 (2000).  He has contributed essays to
such  publications  as  Gary  W.   Gallagher  (comp.),   The
Wilderness  Campaign (1997); Gary W.  Gallagher (comp.), The
Spotsylvania Campaign (1998); and The  Oxford  Companion  to
American   Military   History   (1999).    His  most  recent
publication is Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee,  May  26-June  3,
1864, which was recently released by LSU Press.             

Rhea will give a surprising new interpretation of the famous
battle that left seven thousand Union  casualties  and  only
fifteen  hundred Confederate dead or wounded.  Here, Ulysses
S.  Grant was not a callous butcher, and Robert E.  Lee  did
not   wage   a  perfect  fight.   He  will  touch  upon  the
strategies,   mistakes,   gambles,   and    problems    with
subordinates  that preoccupied these two exquisitely matched
minds.  Rhea's research revealed new facts from the  records
of a phase oddly ignored or mythologized by historians.  The
Cold Harbor of his new book differs sharply  from  the  Cold
Harbor  of  popular  lore.   Rhea's presentations are always
lively, and this one promises to separate fact from  fiction
in a charged, evocative manner.                             



Review of the August Program


Scott Bowden presented a talk on the  Battle  of  Gettysburg
and  focused  on  Robert  E.   Lee's tactics in that battle,
especially the en echelon attack of July 2, 1863.  He stated
that most modern histories are "outcome based," that is they
look back based upon how something ended.   Bowden's  recent
book,  Last  Chance  for  Victory:  Robert  E.   Lee and the
Gettysburg Campaign, looks at Gettysburg in the  context  of
the   times-what   people  there  knew  at  the  time.   His
presentation was based upon this book.                      

The campaign originated on May 9, 1863, when Lee outlined to
his  officers  what  he  hoped  to  accomplish  in  his next
movement against the enemy.  Soon he went to Richmond for  a
conference   with   Jefferson   Davis.   General  Joseph  E.
Johnston's famous  telegram  announcing  his  evacuation  of
Jackson, Mississippi, arrived during the meeting.  This turn
of events meant that it was useless to  send  men  from  the
Army  of Northern Virginia to the Western Theater.  Lee also
learned that, if his army remained  in  Virginia,  it  would
face a forage shortage.  With Davis' approval, he decided to
again take the war into the North.                          

Lee hoped for a series of battles in Pennsylvania  where  he
could  hit  the  various  Federal  corps  and defeat them in
detail.  When General Jeb Stuart rode off with his  brigades
and  became  separated  from  the army, Lee assumed that the
Union army had not moved out of Virginia.  He decided to  do
something to force them to move toward him.  His corps would
concentrate at Gettysburg or Cashtown.   Lieutenant  General
Ambrose P.  Hill decided to take his corps to the former, so
Lieutenant General Richard Ewell marched his corps there  to
meet  Hill.  The result was the first day's fighting outside
Gettysburg.   After  the  Confederate  victory,  Lee  issued
orders  to  pursue  the  retreating  Federals.  He used what
Bowden  called  "gentlemanly"  terms-if  practicable  or  if
possible-but intended a vigorous pursuit.                   

The  failure  of  his  subordinates  to  follow these orders
resulted in Lee having to fight a set-piece battle.  He  had
several   choices-(1)  turn  around  and  retreat  to  South
Mountain,  (2)  move   toward   Harrisburg,   (3)   threaten
Baltimore,  (4)  sit  on  the  defensive,  or (5) resume the
tactical offensive.  The latter was his  only  real  option.
Lee's  plan  for July 2 called for coordinating two corps on
one side of the town with one on the other side.  He had  to
find  a  way to get at the Federals early that day.  Without
Stuart, Lee had to rely upon staff officers  to  reconnoiter
the  Union  positions.   He  planned an attack by Lieutenant
General James Longstreet's First Corps against  the  enemy's
flank  similar  to the one conducted by Stonewall Jackson at
Chancellorsville.                                           

When the alignment of the Army of the Potomac changed, Lee's
original  plan  would  not work.  He modified it to have his
units attack en echelon against Cemetery Ridge.  This tactic
was used when facing an enemy rather than attacking a flank.
Lee felt that he could rattle Major General George G.  Meade,
new  Union  army  commander.   By  attacking en echelon, the
Confederates would draw more and more Federal  units  toward
the  Union  left and weaken the Union center, where the main
attack was to occur.  Unfortunately for Lee  and  his  army,
the  attacks began to break down.  Generals Hill and Richard
Anderson failed to coordinate the movements of the brigades.
Brigadier General William Mahone refused to send his brigade
into the fight.  Soon the entire attack fell apart.         

Lee had come close to achieving his objective.   There  were
six  Federal brigades on Cemetery Ridge as the attack ended.
They were the worst brigades in the  Union  army  and  would
have  been  hit  by  an equal number of Lee's best brigades.
Bowden believes the Federal center would have been split and
that the Confederates could have won the battle that day.   




 Announcements 

Fall Tour

On October 5, our fall tour will take us to Brandy  Station.
Clark  B.   "Bud"  Hall,  who  was one of the driving forces
behind the preservation efforts at  that  battlefield,  will
serve  as  tour guide.  The cost is very reasonable-just $20
per person.  We will depart from the Wal-Mart parking lot at
Brooke  and Parham at 8 a.  m.  and return about 5:30 p.  m.
Everyone should bring a lunch and their own drinks.  We will
provide  pastries and fruit as breakfast, as well as cookies
for an afternoon snack.  This promises to be one of the best
trips  the  Round  Table  has  been  on because we will have
access to some areas not normally open to the public.  Please
bring  your  check  and  give it to Art Bergeron at the next
meeting or mail it to  him  at  the  address  shown  on  the
newsletter so that your place on the bus will be reserved.  


University of Richmond Class

The  University  of  Richmond  School  of Continuing Studies
announces  a  class  titled  "Civil   War:   The   Peninsula
Campaign."  The Civil War came close to ending in the summer
of 1862.  Throughout the months of April  and  May,  General
George  McClellan's  Army  of  the Potomac had pushed up the
Peninsula of Virginia from Fortress Monroe to the  outskirts
of  Richmond.   By  June,  many Union soldiers reported that
they could hear church bells ringing in the city.   But  the
South  was not yet defeated, and this threat to Richmond was
turned  back  by  General  Robert  E.   Lee  in  a  set   of
hard-fought  battles.   This  non-credit course will look at
the soldiers who fought the Peninsula Campaign of  1862  and
will examine developments in Richmond.  The class will use a
variety of materials furnished by the instructor in  support
of  the four class sessions.  A Saturday field trip from Ft.
Monroe to the scene of the Seven Days Battles will be led by
the  instructor.   The  class  will  run  for  four weeks in
October, meeting each Monday night from 7:00-9:00 p.m.   The
bus  trip  will  be  held  on  Saturday, November 2nd.  Jack
Mountcastle is the course instructor.  The fee is $107.  For
more   info,  call  the  School  of  Continuing  Studies  at
804-289-8133, or check their website at www.urich.edu,  then
click  on  Continuing  Studies for info from their fall term
"Think Again" catalog.                                      


Museum of the Confederacy Program

On Thursday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m., the Museum  of  the
Confederacy  will  hold it annual Elizabeth Roller Bottimore
Lecture in the Perkinson Recital Hall at the  University  of
Richmond.  It is free to the public.  In 2000, National Park
Civil  War  sites  were  required  to   include   in   their
programming  the role slavery played as a cause of the Civil
War.  This raised questions as well as  disagreements  among
historians and battlefield visitors over the manner in which
the Civil War should be studied.  This year's  program  will
consist  of  a  panel  discussion  featuring  Dr.  Edward L.
Ayers, professor of history at UVA; Mr.  Robert  K.   Krick,
Civil  War  historian;  Dr.   Dwight  T.  Pitcaithley, chief
historian of the National Park Service; and  Mr.   Jerry  L.
Russell,   national   chairman  of  Civil  War  Round  Table
Associates.  The panelists  will  look  at  the  amendment's
implications and far-reaching effects on historical study by
specifically examining  the measures  and changes at federal
Civil War battlefields.                                     


RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2002


Newsletter Deadlines

To facilitate the printing and timely  distribution  of  the
monthly  newsletter,  information for it should be submitted
to the editors no later than the following dates:           

September 20 for October
October 18 for November
November 22 for December


Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Art & Carol Bergeron, Editors
3901 Paces Ferry Road
Chester, VA 23831-1239