Bernard Fisher, President              Rob Monroe, Editor       
7300 Ann Cabell Lane                   2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Mechanicsville, VA 23111               Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
bernard.fisher@comcast.net             RMonroe500@comcast.net   
 April 2007 PROGRAM

William Marvel

"The Road to Appomattox and
Other Adventures in Iconoclasm"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 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.

Bill Marvel is a native of Princess Anne  County,  Virginia,
who  is  now  a free-lance writer in South Conway, NH.  Over
the last 15 years, he has authored many  books  familiar  to
students    of    the   Civil   War,   including   Burnside;
Andersonville: The Last  Depot  (recipient  of  the  Douglas
Southall Freeman Award and second place in the Lincoln Prize
competition); The Alabama and the  Kearsarge:  The  Sailor's
Civil  War;  A  Place  Called  Appomattox;  and  Lee's  Last
Retreat: The Flight to  Appomattox.   His  first  Civil  War
books  were  two  New Hampshire unit histories and two books
(The Battle of the Crater  and  Southwest  Virginia  in  the
Civil War: The Battles for Saltville) in the  H. E. Howard's
Virginia Battles and Leaders Series.  His most recent  work,
Mr.   Lincoln  Goes  to  War,  is  the  first of a projected
four-volume history of the Civil  War,  primarily  from  the
Union  perspective.  The second volume, The Arms of Abraham,
will appear next year.                                      

Regardless of his subject, Marvel brings  to  his  work  not
only  dogged  research  skills,  but also a highly-developed
sense of skepticism.  His iconoclasm is  especially  evident
in  his  many  articles,  in  which  he routinely challenges
"facts" that other historians  have  accepted  uncritically.
Among  his  other  works  in  progress is a book tentatively
entitled  Rewriting  the  Civil  War:  The   Making   of   a
Revisionist  Historian.   His  presentation  to the Richmond
Civil War Round Table will address his general  approach  to
Civil  War history but - appropriately for our April meeting
- concentrate on the Appomattox Campaign.                   

He will have several of his books, especially those  related
to Appomattox, available for sale at the meeting.           



Summary of March Meeting

Rick  Hatcher,  a  Varina  native  working  at  Fort  Sumter
National  Monument,  spoke  to  the Richmond Civil War Round
Table at the group's March meeting.  In his presentation  on
Charleston  during  the  Civil War, Hatcher noted that there
were several important Virginians in the city  at  the  time
the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter.                  

Frank  Collins of Fredericksburg was a seaman aboard the CSS
Indian Chief and later made history as a crewmember who died
on  the  Hunley.   Gen.  P.G.T.  Beauregard's staff included
two natives of  the  Old  Dominion.   One  of  them,  Thomas
Jordan,  had been Sherman's roommate at West Point.  Another
Virginian, D.B.  Harris, was  Beauregard's  chief  engineer.
The  Creole  general  praised  Harris's work and claimed his
engineer never made a mistake.                              

In 1860, Fort Sumter was a construction site  and  was  only
90% complete, Hatcher noted.  He recounted the strange story
of Lt.  Richard K.  Meade.  A Virginian serving as a  member
of  the  U.S.   Corps  of  Engineers,  he was at Fort Sumter
during the April  1861  bombardment.   After  the  fort  was
surrendered, he was sent north, and -- when Virginia seceded
-- he resigned.  A mere one month after he  had  been  under
fire with the Federal army at Fort Sumter, Meade was working
as an engineer in the Confederate army.                     

Charleston was the most  important  seaport  in  the  south,
noted  Hatcher, and was of great strategic importance during
the Civil War.  The fact that the first shells were fired at
Fort  Sumter made Charleston important symbolically as well.
Naturally,  possession  of  the  city   was   of   paramount
importance  to both the Confederacy and the Union.  On April
7, 1863, the  Federals  launched  an  attack  in  Charleston
Harbor, sending nine ironclads into the channel where dozens
of Confederate guns were trained.  In an intense two  and  a
half  hour battle, three of the Union vessels were disabled.
One U.S.  gunboat was  hit  90  times.   The  Federals  were
repelled - at least temporarily.                            

Three  months later, the Siege of Charleston began.  Lasting
from July 10, 1863 until February 17, 1865, it  was  be  the
longest  siege  of  the war.  In a 59-day span, Union forces
fired  an  average  of  over  500  rounds  a  day.   In  one
particular  week,  Federal  guns  fired  552,000  pounds  of
ordinance, dismantling a wall of Fort Sumter in the process.
On  Christmas Day 1863, Union guns fired 134 rounds into the
city  of  Charleston,  heavily  damaging  some  areas.    In
February  1865, the Confederate colors were lowered and they
abandoned Ft.  Sumter  and  Charleston  after  the  city  of
Columbia fell to Sherman's forces.                          


April Events

Did a massacre actually occur at Fort Pillow  in  1864?   At
2pm  on  Saturday, April 14, Brian Steel Wills, Professor of
History at the University of  Virginia's  College  at  Wise,
will  examine  the myths and realities of the Battle of Fort
Pillow  in  Henning,  Tennessee.   Wills,  author   of   The
Confederacy's  Greatest  Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest,
will explore all sides of the controversy in a  presentation
at  Pamplin  Historical  Park  &  the National Museum of the
Civil War Soldier.  Visitors will be able to participate  in
a  question  and answer session after the presentation.  For
more  information  go   to   www.pamplinpark.org   or   call
1-877-PAMPLIN

Richard  Carwardine,  author of the award-winning Lincoln: A
Life of Purpose and Power, will  be  at  the  University  of
Richmond's  Jepson Alumni Center on Monday, April 16 at 7pm.
He will lecture on key features  of  Lincoln's  presidential
leadership:   his   vision,   strategic  command,  political
management and techniques as a  communicator.   A  reception
and  book  signing will follow.  For more information, email
Jepson@richmond.edu or call (804) 289- 8008

Blacksmithing  demonstrations,  a   working   19th   century
photographic  studio, and period music are just a few of the
highlights of the 10th Annual Civil War Day, Saturday, April
28 at the Tredegar Ironworks.  From 10am to 4pm the National
Park Service and the American Civil War Center will  present
a  day  of  living  history activities, talks and tours, and
artillery and  musket  firing  demonstrations  commemorating
Richmond`s Civil War heritage.  Young people can play period
games, learn to drill  like  Civil  War  soldiers  and  talk
one-on-one  with  the  living history interpreters in camps.
For more information call (804) 226-1981 ext. 30

Was Robert E.  Lee a hero whose valor  and  leadership  were
surpassed  only by his honor and humanity or a traitor whose
military skill prolonged an immoral rebellion?  The Sons  of
Confederate Veterans will host a Robert E.  Lee Bicentennial
Symposium on Saturday, April 28 at the Key  Bridge  Marriott
in  Arlington.   Speakers  include  Robert  K.   Krick, Kent
Masterson Brown and Thomas DiLorenzo among others.  Space is
limited.    For  more  information  or  to  register  go  to
www.scv.org/sdli or call 1-800-MY SOUTH


CWPT Lists Endangered Sites

Three Virginia sites are among America's ten most endangered
battlefields  according  to the Civil War Preservation Trust
(CWPT).  At a March press conference, the  group  identified
Cedar  Creek,  Petersburg  and  battlefields in the Piedmont
region of Virginia,  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  as  being
threatened.  Other sites on the list are Harper's Ferry, WV;
Gettysburg, PA; Spring Hill, TN; Fort Morgan, AL; Iuka,  MS;
Marietta, GA and forts in New Orleans.                      

The  major  threat to the Cedar Creek site, according to the
CWPT, comes from the possible  expansion  of  nearby  mining
operations  that  could create five new quarries on the core
battlefield.  The CWPT is  also  concerned  that  the  rapid
expansion  of Fort Lee will have a detrimental impact on the
adjacent Petersburg battlefield.  The group also stated that
a  proposed  route  for new power lines in Northern Virginia
would affect some  48,000  acres  of  land  protected  under
preservation    easements,   including   seven   Civil   War
battlefields.                                               

The CWPT also recognized the Museum of  the  Confederacy  as
one  of  2007's  most endangered sites under a newly created
designation, "Museum Under Siege." According  to  the  CWPT,
although  not  a  battlefield,  the  museum and the adjacent
White House of the Confederacy "are  as  endangered  as  any
battleground   in   the  U.S.,"  and  are  "literally  being
strangled" by the neighboring medical  complex  of  Virginia
Commonwealth University.                                    


Bus Filling Up for June Field Trip

The bus for our annual field trip  is  rapidly  filling  up.
Only 20 seats are left.  Make your reservation now and don't
miss out on a great trip.  This year's trip is scheduled for
June   2   and  will  visit  the  Southern  section  of  the
Fredericksburg  battlefield   where   some   of   the   most
significant  fighting  took  place.   Join tour leader Frank
O'Reilly and follow Meade's advance against  Jackson's  line
on  Prospect  Hill.   Included  in  the  tour  will  be  the
Slaughter Pen Farm, which has recently been preserved by the
Civil  War  Preservation Trust.  RCWRT members will be among
the first visitors to tour this site, which has only limited
access  at  this time.  You should be prepared for plenty of
walking and you will need to bring your own lunch.          

We will travel to Fredericksburg via bus, leaving the  James
River Bus Lines parking lot at 915 N.  Allen Street (between
Leigh and Broad streets), at 8am and return to that location
at  5pm.   The trip costs $25 per person.  Reserve your seat
today by completing the following form and sending it  along
with your check (payable to RCWRT) to:                      


Ed Wooldridge       
13700 Lintel Lane   
Midlothian, VA 23113

Name _______________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________

City _________________________________ State ______ Zip ____________

Phone number and/or email address __________________________________

Number of seats requested ___  X $25 each = $ ________ Total payment

If you have any questions, please contact Ed Wooldridge via phone at
804-897-9840, or e-mail: edwool@comcast.net



RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2007


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