Richard Forrester, President           Rob Monroe, Editor       
8008 Spottswood Road                   2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Richmond, VA 23229                     Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
dforrester@verizon.net                 RMonroe500@comcast.net   
January 2006 PROGRAM

Mr. Roger Mudd

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 10, 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.

Roger Mudd  was  born  in  Washington,  D.C.   in  1928  and
enlisted  in  the  U.S.   Army in 1945, serving with the 2nd
Armored  Division.   He  graduated  from  Washington  &  Lee
University in 1950 and from the University of North Carolina
in 1953 with a master's degree in history.  Between 1961  to
1992,  Mudd was a Washington correspondent for CBS News, NBC
News and the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour on  PBS.   He  won  the
George   Foster  Peabody  award  for  "The  Selling  of  the
Pentagon" in 1970 and for "Teddy" in  1979  and  the  Barone
Award for Distinguished Washington Reporting in 1990.       

Between  1992  and  1996,  he  was  a  visiting professor of
politics and  the  press  at  Princeton  University  and  at
Washington  &  Lee University.  Mudd was the editor of Great
Minds of History, interviews with five American  historians,
published   in  1999.   He  was  the  documentary  host  and
correspondent for The History Channel  from  1995  until  he
retired in 2004.                                            

Mudd  is  on  the  board  of  the  Virginia  Foundation  for
Independent Colleges and the National Portrait Gallery,  the
advisory  boards  of  the  Eudora  Welty  Foundation and the
Jepson School of Leadership at the  University  of  Richmond
and  is  currently the chairman of the advisory board to the
Mount Vernon Ladies  Association.   He  is  married  to  the
former  E.J.   Spears of Richmond.  They have four children,
11 grandchildren and have lived in McLean for 33 years.     

On very short notice, Mr.  Mudd has kindly agreed to be  our
January  speaker.  He will be talking to the Round Table not
as a Civil War scholar, but rather someone with  a  lifelong
love  of  history.   He  will  comment  on his work with The
History Channel and his relative, Dr.  Samuel Mudd, who  set
John    Wilkes    Booth's   broken   leg   after   Lincoln's
assassination.                                              


Summary of November Meeting

A Dinwiddie County native  now  working  at  the  Petersburg
National  Battlefield, James Blankenship joked that he never
thought he'd grow up to work at Yankee headquarters.   After
spending  only  a  day researching at the National Archives,
Blankenship knew he had enough information to write  a  book
on  the Union railroad at City Point.  His forthcoming book,
"As Smooth as a Greased  Wheel,"  is  the  product  of  this
research.    At   the   Round   Table's   December  meeting,
Blankenship  gave  RCWRT  members  an  inside  look  at  the
remarkable  Union  military  railroad at City Point from the
summer of 1864 to the spring of 1865.                       

The Siege of Petersburg, Blankenship noted, took place  over
292  days  and  involved  over  100 military actions.  It is
ironic to think that the Union railroad at  City  Point  was
built  to  support  Grant's  strategy to destroy Confederate
railroads in Petersburg.                                    

By 1864 there was already a railroad in City  Point  but  it
was  not  in  use.   Upriver  in  Petersburg, five railroads
served the town but none of them  were  linked  due  to  the
fierce  competition  between  rival companies.  In addition,
Petersburg residents did  not  want  to  see  the  railroads
linked,  said  Blankenship,  for  fear that the trains would
continue to ride through town without stopping.             

The Union army spent  the  first  two  weeks  of  the  siege
opening  the railroad between Petersburg and the supply base
on the river at City Point.  For  nine  months,  City  Point
became  one of the busiest ports in the world.  Even so, the
area looked like a shanty town.  Nothing  was  built  to  be
permanent,  Blankenship  noted.   Many of the buildings were
prefab structures made of wood that was  cut  in  Alexandria
and transported by boat to City Point.                      

Railroad  carpenters  were paid better than men at the front
but had little free time to spend their earnings.  Beginning
June  18,  1864,  these  railroad men worked every day until
they were finally given  a  day  off  in  November.   It  is
interesting   to   note   that  833  men  were  employed  in
constructing the railroad while only 40 worked on the trains
themselves.                                                 

There  were  additional  problems acquiring and transporting
locomotives from the northern  states.   Captains  of  steam
ships   were   reluctant  to  transport  train  engines  and
complained that the weight of these "iron horses" made their
boats unsteady.  Once they finally arrived in Virginia, some
of the locomotives were  found  to  lack  power.   At  times
soldiers  had  to  disembark  from  the  train  to help push
engines uphill.                                             

Despite  the  need  for  supplies  and  ammunition  for  the
soldiers, oats, hay and other feed for animals constituted a
great percentage of the cargo hauled on the rails.   As  the
number  of  sick  and injured soldiers arose, the Union army
found another use for  the  trains  as  empty  boxcars  were
converted into rolling hospitals.  It can truly be said that
during the Siege of Petersburg victory rode the rails.      

At the beginning of our meeting, Troy  Arnold's  number  was
drawn  and  he  became  the  lucky  winner  of  the complete
multi-volume  set  of  Time-Life's  Civil  War  book  series
donated  by  Joe  Monroe.   Round Table members also elected
three members to the executive  committee  for  2006:  Bobby
Krick,  Jack  Ackerly  and  Dan Balfour.  Outgoing president
Dick Forrester gave an emotional farewell  and  thanked  the
Round Table for a "wonderful year."                         


Preservationists Win Victory Near Winchester

Preservationists had an important victory  to  celebrate  on
December  28.  The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation
and The Shockey Companies announced that Shockey has donated
to  the Battlefields Foundation a conservation easement on a
48-acre parcel in Frederick County that played a role in the
Second  and  Third  Battles  of  Winchester.   The protected
property lies northeast of the city of Winchester in an area
known  as Stephenson's Depot and is bordered by Milburn Road
and Old  Charlestown  Road.   It  is  in  the  Milburn  Road
Historic District and the core area of the Second Winchester
battlefield and the  study  area  of  the  Third  Winchester
battlefield.                                                

During  the  Second Battle of Winchester (June 13-15, 1863),
Confederate artillery on the  hill  at  the  center  of  the
property bombarded Union troops as they fled north along the
Valley Pike (modern-day US Route 11) and Milburn Road.  Union
attempts to scale the hill and dislodge the southerners were
unsuccessful.  Confederates captured 4,000 Federal prisoners
in  this  action  and  secured  an undisputed passage toward
Pennsylvania and ultimately the Battle of Gettysburg.       

Third Winchester (September  19,  1864)  --  a  battle  that
engaged  more  than  55,000 troops on both sides -- ended in
one of the largest mounted charges of the Civil War.   Union
cavalry  had  crossed Opequon Creek north of Berryville Pike
(modern-day Virginia Route 7) and engaged  the  Confederates
south  of  Stephenson's  Depot  between  the Valley Pike and
Milburn Road, adjacent the property.  They then descended on
Confederate  troops  north  and  east of Winchester, driving
them from the city.  The Federal victory contributed to  the
reelection of Abraham Lincoln six weeks later.              

Together with the other eight battlefields of the Shenandoah
Valley Battlefields National Historic District,  Second  and
Third  Winchester  are likely to meet the standards required
for  National  Historic   Landmark   status,   the   highest
recognition  granted  by the Federal government for historic
value.  The Civil War Sites Advisory  Commission  identified
the  sites  of  10,500 armed conflicts throughout the nation
that  occurred  during  the  Civil  War.   Of  these,  Third
Winchester  was  one of only 45 ranked "A" because it had "a
decisive influence on a campaign and a direct impact on  the
course  of  the war." Second Winchester was one of 104 sites
ranked "B"  because  it  had  "a  decisive  influence  on  a
campaign."                                                  

Battlefields  Foundation  Executive  Director Howard Kittell
noted the community's long-held interest in protecting  this
battlefield   area.   "For  many  years,  residents  in  the
Winchester-Frederick County area have voiced their desire to
see  this  landscape preserved.  This easement represents an
important step in accomplishing the  community's  goal.   We
have  ensured  that  future  generations  of travelers along
historic Milburn Road will be able to experience the stories
of these battles the way that we can today.  We are grateful
to Don Shockey for his commitment to the community."        

"This effort will preserve this open space for the community
of  Stephenson,"  said  Shockey.  The Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation will serve as a co-holder of the
easement,  ensuring that the protection of the property will
last into perpetuity.                                       


Class Will Examine 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 the new commander of the Army of Northern Virginia,
General Robert E.  Lee, in a set of hard-fought battles.    

Next month the University of Richmond School  of  Continuing
Studies  will  offer  a  non-credit  course, "Civil War: The
Peninsula Campaign." Classes will look at the  soldiers  who
fought   in  1862  and  will  examine  developments  in  the
fascinating wartime capital of  the  Confederacy,  Richmond.
The  four  class  sessions  will  use a variety of materials
furnished by the instructor, retired Brigadier General  Jack
Mountcastle,  the  U.S.   Army's  former  Chief  of Military
History.  A Saturday, March 4th bus 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 February, meeting  each
Monday  night  from  7-9pm.   The course will focus on those
soldiers who were learning their  trade  as  commanders  and
would  rise to prominence in subsequent campaigns.  The cost
of the non-credit course  is  $169.   For  more  information
contact  the  University  of Richmond's School of Continuing
Studies   at   289-8133   or   visit   their   website    at
www.richmond.edu.   Click  on  Continuing  Studies  and then
select the Think Again noncredit course catalog's section on
Personal Enrichment History Courses.                        


Museum Looks at Love During the Civil War

The mere mention of the  American  Civil  War  automatically
brings  to  mind  images of destruction, battles, death, and
dying.  Yet throughout those years of strife, the thought of
the  fairer sex sustained many a soldier during his bleakest
hour.   On  Saturday,  February  11,  the  Museum   of   the
Confederacy will present "Hearts at War." Through artifacts,
documents, and stories this two-hour program for adults will
look  at Valentine traditions and courtship during the Civil
War.  Light refreshments will follow.                       

Due to limited space, pre-registration  is  required.   Cost
for members is $8, non-members $10.  For more information or
registration, contact  Vickie  Yates  at  vyates@moc.org  or
649-1861 extension 20.                                      


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