John Coski, President                  Rob Monroe, Editor       
5028 King William Road                 2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Richmond, VA 23225                     Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
jmcoski@peoplepc.com                   RMonroe500@comcast.net   
 April 2008 PROGRAM

Patrick A. Schroeder
"The Battles of Appomattox Station and
Appomattox Court House"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 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.

Our  next  meeting,  on  April  8,  will  mark   the   143rd
anniversary  of the fighting that led to Confederate General
Robert E.  Lee's surrender the following day  at  Appomattox
Court House.  On that afternoon in 1865, General Lee and the
Army of Northern  Virginia  arrived  near  Appomattox  Court
House, anticipating receiving much needed supplies that were
awaiting three miles west, at Appomattox  Station.   He  was
only  one  step ahead of the federal armies that were in hot
pursuit.                                                    

In what promises to be a very timely  presentation,  Patrick
Schroeder,   the   historian  from  Appomattox  Court  House
National Historical Park, will be with  us  to  discuss  the
Battles of Appomattox Station and Appomattox Court House and
the importance of these battles in forcing Lee's  surrender.
Schroeder will share with us maps of troop movements as well
as photographs and stories of the soldiers, so many of  whom
were   tragically  wounded  or  killed  during  the  intense
fighting.                                                   

Schroeder has been the Appomattox Battlefield Park Historian
since  2002.   He  also  has worked at Red Hill, the Patrick
Henry National Memorial; and as an  independent  researcher,
historian  and  author.  He has written, edited or published
more than 20  Civil  War-related  titles,  including  Thirty
Myths  about Lee's Surrender, which is currently in its 11th
printing.                                                   


Ceremony to Honor Member of Richmond Howitzers

A dedicated group of historians and re-enactors who  portray
the  famous  "First Company, Richmond Howitzers" will travel
more than 500 miles from Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  to
Richmond  this  April  to participate in a ceremony to honor
one of Richmond's sons,  William  Henry  Tatum,  who  was  a
member of the original Howitzers.  The ceremony will be held
on  Saturday  afternoon,  April  19  at  2:00  in  Hollywood
Cemetery.                                                   

Speaking  at  the  ceremony  will  be William Tatum's great,
great nephew, David Tatum, and Wayne Rowe, CDR, USN-retired,
1st  Company  Historian  and the Head Reference Librarian at
the Naval War College.  The ceremony will also  include  the
unveiling  of  a new Veteran's Marker for William Tatum, the
laying of a wreath by the  Tatum  Family  and  an  artillery
salute.                                                     

William  Henry Tatum was born in Henrico County on April 15,
1838.  Prior to the Civil War, he worked as a grocery  clerk
in  Richmond.   He enlisted in the Confederate Army on April
21, 1861 at the age of 23.  After  the  Lee's  surrender  at
Appomattox, Tatum took the Oath of Allegiance in Richmond on
April 18, 1865.  After the war, he returned to  Richmond  to
resume his livelihood in the grocery business.  Tatum became
a member of the Richmond Howitzers Association and the  R.E.
Lee  Camp  No.1 of the United Confederate Veterans.  He died
on February 23, 1903.                                       

The "First Company, Richmond Howitzers"  was  mustered  into
Confederate  service  on  April  21,  1861  and  served with
distinction until the end of the war.  There  were  345  men
who served in this company.  They were primarily Richmonders
who  worked  as  clerks,   merchants,   students,   doctors,
engineers,  teachers and lawyers.  A third of the men in the
company spent over two years in Confederate  service,  while
over  fifty  men  served  the  entire four years of the war.
Forty men were wounded in  battle  and  11  were  killed  in
action,  while another seventeen died from various causes in
the service.                                                

These men were part of Lee's "Army of Northern Virginia" and
were   engaged   in   battles   such   as   First  Manassas,
Williamsburg,  the  Seven   Days,   Antietam   (Sharpsburg),
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg, Spotsylvania
Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomattox Station.

The New England "Howitzers" are  excited  about  their  trip
down south and extend an invitation for others to attend and
share this  celebration  of  one  of  Richmond's  own.   For
further   information,   please  call  Bill  Ward  at  (804)
332-4522.                                                   


History Center Offers "Civil War Sampler"

The Valentine Richmond History Center is offering  a  "Civil
War  Sampler" bus tour on Saturday afternoon, April 12.  The
four-hour tour is a comprehensive look at Civil War Richmond
and  the  unique  role  it  played  as  the  Capital  of the
Confederacy.                                                

At 1:00 the bus will leave the History  Center  at  1015  E.
Clay  Street  and drive through Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom,
the Court End and the canal area.  There will  be  stops  at
the  Soldiers  and  Sailors  Monument  and the Tredegar Iron
Works.  The guide will discuss  Chimborazo  Hospital,  Libby
Prison, the infamous Belle Isle and the Evacuation Fire. The
bus will drive by Hollywood Cemetery and then  out  Monument
Avenue  to  the  battlefields, with stops at Gaines Mill and
Cold Harbor.                                                

Cost of the tour is $20 for adults, $17 for  History  Center
members, and children 6-18.  The price includes admission to
the History Center on the day of tour.                      


Two Virginia Battlefields
on "Most Endangered" List 

At a press conference in Washington last  month,  the  Civil
War Preservation Trust (CWPT) released its list of America's
most endangered battlefields.  Two Virginia  sites  -  Cedar
Creek  and  Cold  Harbor - are included in the CWPT's annual
report.  Other battlefields listed are Monocacy and Antietam
(Sharpsburg) in Maryland; Hunterstown, Pennsylvania; Natural
Bridge,  Florida;  Perryville,   Kentucky;   Prarie   Grove,
Arkansas; Spring Hill, Tennessee; and Savannah, Georgia.    

The  threat at Cedar Creek stems from a proposal to expand a
limestone  mining  operation  onto  639  acres   immediately
adjacent  to Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical
Park.   The  Shenandoah   Valley   Battlefields   Foundation
estimates  that  this  acreage  is  at least 60 percent core
battlefield.   Although  the   Frederick   County   planning
commission  voted  by  an  8-4  margin  against  the  mining
proposal in June 2006, it has yet to go before the Board  of
Supervisors  for  an  ultimate  decision.   In  the interim,
preservationists  in  the  group  Preserve  Frederick   have
crafted  their  own  compromise  plan,  which CWPT supports.
"Plan  B,"  as  it  has  become  known,  would  protect  the
northerly, more historically significant portion of the land
up for rezoning, while allowing  mining  to  expand  to  the
south  of the current plant, buffered from the park.  Though
only 158 acres, the site  espoused  by  Plan  B  contains  a
limestone vein.                                             

At Cold Harbor, development pressure in the Richmond area is
so great that only about 300 acres of what was once at least
a  7,500-acre battlefield are currently preserved.  In March
2007 the Hanover County Board of Supervisors approved a  new
edition  of  its  Comprehensive Plan that could increase the
threat to the Cold Harbor  Battlefield.   Specifically,  the
Plan  redesignates  land  on  the  northern  portion  of the
battlefield, where little has been protected to  date,  from
"Suburban   Transitional"   to  "Suburban  General."  Though
seemingly minor, this change  doubled  the  housing  density
allowable   in  the  area,  which  could  further  encourage
development and increase the cost of preserving land.   Some
of  the land impacted lies within the authorized boundary of
Richmond National Battlefield, demonstrating its  historical
significance  and  making  it  eligible for inclusion in the
National Park System.                                       


Spring Field Trip Set for May

The Richmond Civil War Round Table is  pleased  to  announce
this   year's  Spring  Field  Trip  will  be  to  Appomattox
Courthouse on Saturday, May  31.   The  site  and  date  are
planned  to  coincide with the RCWRT's April presentation on
Appomattox.                                                 

We are  pleased  to  have  Chris  Calkins,  from  Petersburg
National  Battlefield  Park,  as  the tour leader.  Calkins,
known to many of you, has  an  extensive  knowledge  of  all
aspects of Lee's retreat, including Appomattox.  A stop will
also be made at Sailor's (Saylers) Creek  Battlefield  where
we will have lunch (please bring your own).                 

We  will  leave  at  8  a.m.  sharp from the James River Bus
parking lot, Allen Ave.  and Leigh St., and return  at  5:30
p.m.   The  cost  will  be $30 per person.  Reservations are
"first come, first served" and the bus is expected  to  fill
up fast.                                                    

Reservations  and  checks  may  be given to Davis Wrinkle at
RCWRT meetings or sent to:                                  

Davis Wrinkle     
7741 Rockfalls Dr.
Richmond, VA 23225
(work) 647-7660    
(home) 272-5419    


North Anna Battlefield Park to Expand

Hanover's largest county-maintained  Civil  War  battlefield
park  is doubling its size.  The North Anna Battlefield Park
is in the Doswell area.  For the past 16 years the park  has
consisted   of  about  75  acres.   When  the  property  was
dedicated to Hanover County by  the  General  Crushed  Stone
rock quarry in 1992, historian Michael Miller called it "one
of the greatest battles never fought."                      

In  February,  the  Hanover  County  Board  of   Supervisors
approved  a conditional use permit allowing expansion of the
quarry now operated by Martin Marietta Materials  Inc.   and
American  Aggregates  Corporation.  As one of the conditions
of the approval, the quarry owners donated an additional  90
acres  to  the county, including what is called "the killing
fields" where the heaviest fighting took place.             

The park is  open  during  daylight  hours  for  self-guided
tours.   Rifle  pits and trenches from the battle remain and
are considered some  of  the  best  examples  of  Civil  War
earthworks  in  existence.   Hanover  County's Department of
Parks and Recreation maintains the park,  which  includes  a
two-mile  interpretive  trail  system.   An observation deck
allows visitors to witness the vantage  point  commanded  by
the Confederates as they faced the Union army.              

The   county   will  work  with  representatives  of  Martin
Marietta, the Hanover Historical Society and the  Civil  War
Preservation  Trust  to  develop  a  park  expansion plan to
include additional pedestrian trails, signage and overlooks.


Upcoming Events

Friday, April 18 and Saturday, May 3
The Museum of the  Confederacy  offers  a  walking  tour  of
Jefferson  Davis's  Richmond.   The  one-hour tour begins at
noon and includes  Capitol  Square,  St.   Paul's  Episcopal
Church,  Davis's  executive office building and the sites of
the homes of Alexander Stephens, Mary Chesnut, Matthew Maury
and more.                                                   

Saturday and Sunday, April 19-20
The Richmond National Battlefield Park will commemorate  the
battles  of  Glendale (Frayser's Farm) and Malvern Hill with
living history artillery  and  infantry  demonstrations  and
park  ranger guided walking tours.  Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.,
Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.                                       


RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2008


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