Sam Craghead, President         Art & Carol Bergeron, Editors
4361F Lakefield Mews            3901 Paces Ferry Road      
Richmond, VA 23231              Chester, VA 23831-1239   

December 2001 PROGRAM

Dr. John M. Coski

"Battle Flag:                                          
A Brief History of America's Most Controversial Symbol"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 11, 2001, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.)

Dr.  John M.  Coski is  the  Director  of  the  Library  and
Research at the Museum of the Confederacy.  He has held this
position since 1999.  Coski received his  bachelor's  degree
from  Mary  Washington College and his master's and doctoral
degrees in American history from the College of William  and
Mary.  After teaching at Mary Washington College and Hollins
College, Coski  became  Historian  for  the  Museum  of  the
Confederacy  in 1990.  He is the author of Capital Navy: The
Men, Ships  and  Operations  of  the  James  River  Squadron
(1996);  A  Century of Collecting: The History of the Museum
of the Confederacy (1996); and The Army of  the  Potomac  at
Berkeley  Plantation:  The  Harrison's Landing Occupation of
1862 (1989).  Coski is the co-author or co-editor  of  White
House  of the Confederacy: An Illustrated History (1993) and
Four Centuries of  the  Southern  Experience:  Charles  City
County from the Earliest Settlement through the Modern Civil
Rights Movement (1989).  He is  working  on  a  book  titled
Embattled  Emblem:  The  Confederate Battle Flag in American
History and Culture.  Coski has also had articles  and  book
reviews  published  in  a  number  of scholarly journals and
compiled works.  In addition to his work at  the  Museum  of
the  Confederacy,  he  has  been a consultant for the Ball's
Bluff Battlefield Park and an instructor for Elderhostels at
Camp Hanover and Virginia Commonwealth University.          

Coski  is  one  of  the  leading  experts  in the country on
Confederate flags.  His presentation  for  the  Round  Table
will  focus  on  his work on the Confederate battle flag and
will be accompanied by slides.                              




Review of the November Program


Mrs.   Virginia  Beard  Morton  gave  a   talk   and   slide
presentation based upon her book, Marching Through Culpeper:
A Novel of Culpeper, Virginia, Crossroads of the Civil  War.
She  pointed  out that she became fascinated with Culpeper's
vast Civil War history a  number  of  years  ago  and  began
several  years  of  intense  research so that she could tell
Culpeper's story to the world.  Several  future  Confederate
generals were born in Culpeper or Culpeper County, including
Ambrose Powell Hill,  Isaac  R.   Trimble,  and  Gabriel  C.
Wharton.   Culpeper  was  also the home of Virginia governor
(serving two terms) and Confederate General  William  "Extra
Billy" Smith.                                               

More  troops  marched through Culpeper than any other county
in the country.  It saw so much action because of the Orange
&  Alexandria  Railroad  and  the  Rappahannock  and Rapidan
rivers.  Both armies needed to control the county because of
these  resources.   During  the  Civil  War,  more  than one
hundred engagements were fought in the county.  Prominent in
that  number  were  Cedar Mountain, Kelly's Ford, and Brandy
Station.                                                    

When she began writing her book, Mrs.  Morton wanted  it  to
be  factual  and decided to center it around a young lady so
that she could also tell the story of women during the  war.
Her  characters  include  Frank  Stringfellow,  who became a
scout  for  General  James   Ewell   Brown   "Jeb"   Stuart.
Stringfellow   had   attempted   to   enlist  in  a  regular
Confederate unit but had been rejected because of his  youth
and small size.                                             

One  of the sites frequented by Confederate officers was the
Virginia House Hotel.  Jeb Stuart and the commander  of  his
horse  artillery, Major John Pelham, both visited the hotel.
These men and others were also familiar  visitors  at  Judge
Henry Shackleford's house across the street.  Mrs.  Morton's
character  of  Constance  Armstrong  is  based  upon  Bessie
Shackelford,  the judge's daughter.  Pelham and Major Robert
F.  Beckham, another artillerist, competed for her hand.   A
villain  of  the  book  is Union cavalry general Hugh Judson
Kilpatrick.  His men nicknamed him "Kill-cavalry" because of
his lack of concern for their welfare.  Following the Battle
of  Gettysburg,  General  George  Armstrong  Custer  was  in
Culpeper.   He led his cavalrymen in the September 13, 1863,
Battle of Culpeper Court House and was wounded.  While  home
on  leave,  Custer married Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon, and the
couple returned to Culpeper when he had recovered.   Custer,
then  the  youngest  general  in  the  Union  army, made his
headquarters at "Clover Hill," the home of John Barbour.    

Mrs.  Morton  stated  that  her  compelling  passion  is  to
promote  tourism  to  Culpeper  and  Culpeper  County.  As a
former teacher, she  realizes  the  importance  of  heritage
tourism  and the necessity to educate people about our past.
She pointed out that she also  conducts  Civil  War  walking
tours  of  the  historic downtown area every first and third
Saturday from June through October.  These tours benefit the
Museum  of  Culpeper  History.   Additionally,  Mrs.  Morton
narrates bus tours of the Brandy Station, Kelly's Ford,  and
Cedar Mountain battlefields by appointment.                 


Booking signing after the meeting



 Announcements 

Round  Table Raffle

The December raffle item is a nicely bound 2-volume  set  of
The Long Arm of Lee by Jennings C. Wise.                    


Christmas Programs

Pamplin Historical Park near Petersburg will host  a  series
of  Christmas  programs  during  the month of December.  The
"Holiday   Celebration"   activities    include    Christmas
traditions  as observed by Civil War soldiers and civilians,
Christmas music of the 1800s, and a visit from the Civil War
era  Santa  Claus.  These family activities will be both fun
and educational and should appeal to all ages and levels  of
interest.                                                   

On  December  15, the program will be "Civil War Santa." The
Santa Claus of the 1860s was quite different  in  appearance
from  the one of today.  Illustrator Thomas Nast popularized
this type of character through  drawings  that  appeared  in
periodicals throughout the century.  The Civil War era Santa
will appear live at Pamplin Historical Park  and  will  pose
for photos with guests.                                     

The  December  22 program is "Christmas Music." Visitors are
invited to hear the music Americans  of  the  1860s  enjoyed
during  the  holiday  season.   The  presentations  will  be
performed live in historic settings.                        

The park will be open from 9am to 5pm for these programs.

For more information, call Pamplin Historical Park at  (804)
861-2408    or    visit    the    park's    Web   site   at:
http://www.pamplinpark.org



Christmas Open House

Court End  Christmas  will  be  held  on  December  16  from
12:00-5:00  p.m.   Come  celebrate the holiday season in the
historic Court End with three of Richmond's finest  historic
homes  and  museums: The John Marshall House, Wickham House,
Valentine Richmond History Center and the Museum  and  White
House  of  the  Confederacy.   Each  site  will  offer  free
admission, house tours and refreshments all  day.   Carriage
rides,  living  history,  music, refreshments and children's
activities will help you get into the holiday spirit.       

The Museum of the Confederacy has special  events  scheduled
for  its  Christmas  Open  House.   Kick  off your Christmas
season with a bit of good cheer at the Museum.  In honor  of
the  holidays,  both  the  Museum and the White House of the
Confederacy will be open to the public free of charge.  Enjoy
period  music,  living  history,  children's  activities and
refreshments.  Author  and  historian  Kevin  Rawlings  will
portray  a  unique Civil War-era Santa Claus and sign copies
of his work We Were Marching on  Christmas  Day.   For  more
information, call (804) 649-1861.                           


A Confederate Christmas

Private Frederick S.  Daniel of the First  Company  Richmond
Howitzers  recalled  a  holiday  in  which his unit tried to
celebrate the season:                                       

"When in camp on the Rapidan, the fourth detachment  decided
to  have a Christmas cake.  So, as a philosopher said he had
seen cakes made and would undertake the job, the  sugar  and
flour  of the mess were turned over to him to handle, and he
proudly set to work over it.  All his  messmates  looked  on
with  envy.   The  flour  and  sugar  were  mixed, the dough
scientifically worked up, and then dumped in a  big  skillet
expressly  borrowed  from  the  'Swell  First.'  Finally the
cooking commenced.  Two hours passed and the cake  began  to
brown.   The  day came to a close, and the cake was not done
yet.  The night wore on, and the cake became brown at bottom
as well as on top, and next morning the cakemaker, declaring
it had to be a success, said: 'Now, boys, to prove that  the
cake  is  all right, I'll run a stick through it and you can
see the inside!' But the stick would not go through.  Then a
nail  was  tried: the nail broke.  The cake was taken out of
the skillet and fell on the ground like  a  big  rock.   The
cook,  with  all  his  knowledge  of  the fine arts, whether
through forgetfulness or lack of adequate  ingredients,  had
simply  produced,  after  twenty hours' cookery, a Christmas
cake that appeared to require a pound of dynamite  to  break
it up.  'What became of that cake?' 'I think it was fired at
the Yankees!'..."                                           


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