Edward J. Wooldridge, Pres.            Rob Monroe, Editor       
13700 Lintel Lane                      2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Midlothian, VA 23113                   Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
edwool@verizon.net                     RMonroe500@comcast.net   
 April 2009 Program

Professor Mark Grimsley
"The Partnership That Wasn't:  
Grant, Meade, and the Overland Campaign"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 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.

The Overland campaign of 1864 is universally regarded  as  a
duel  between Ulysses S.  Grant and Robert E.  Lee, with the
Army of the Potomac commonly tagged "Grant's army." Yet  the
head  of  that  army  was not Grant--who as general in chief
commanded all Union forces--but  George  Gordon  Meade.   In
theory  Grant simply co-located his headquarters with Meade.
In practice, however, he soon  supervised  Meade's  army  so
closely  that his staff suggested he dispense with Meade and
assume direct command.  Grant rejected  the  suggestion  and
Meade remained in charge until the end of the war.          

Despite  their near continuous interaction, the two generals
never developed a close  rapport.   Why  not?   And  in  the
absence   of   a   strong   working  relationship,  did  the
arrangement make good military sense?  At our April meeting,
Professor  Mark Grimsley will address these questions and in
the process, explore the nature of senior leadership.       

An  associate  professor  at  The  Ohio  State   University,
Grimsley teaches military and 19th century American history.
He currently holds the Harold K.  Johnson Chair of  Military
History  at the U.S.  Army War College.  His first book, The
Hard Hand of War:  Union  Military  Policy  Toward  Southern
Civilians,  1861-1865, shared the 1996 Lincoln Prize for the
best Civil War book published in 1995.                      

Grimsley is the author of  numerous  books  and  battlefield
guides  on Gettysburg and Shiloh.  He has won three teaching
awards, including the Alumni Distinguished  Teaching  Award,
Ohio  State's highest award for excellence in the classroom.
His  website,  www.WarHistorian.org,  deals  with   military
history and features an award-winning blog.                 


VHS Receives Civil War Drawings

As the Commonwealth prepares for the  150th  anniversary  of
the  American  Civil  War  in  2011, the Virginia Historical
Society (VHS) has made a dramatic addition  to  its  already
impressive   Civil   War   collection.   Two  decades  after
requesting that a collection of Civil War drawings by  Edwin
Forbes  be  given  to the VHS, the current owner donated the
entire   group.    Some   of   the   original    pen-and-ink
illustrations will be included in An American Turning Point:
The Civil War in Virginia, an exhibition  organized  by  the
VHS  for the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil
War Commission.  This  exhibition  will  travel  around  the
state after opening at the society in 2011.                 

In  1862  John  Edwin Forbes was hired as an illustrator for
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.  From 1862 to 1864, he
was  a  member  of  "Bohemian  Brigade,"  the  name given to
reporters who followed northern armies into  battle  in  the
South.   Forbes  spent  two-and-a-half  years  in  Virginia,
traveling mostly with the Army of the  Potomac,  documenting
camp life.                                                  

Forbes  completed more than 300 sketches drawn in the field.
These pencil sketches are at the Library of Congress.  After
the  war,  Forbes  created pen-in-ink illustrations from his
sketches.  In 1889, Forbes produced  a  book,  Thirty  Years
After:  An Artist's Memoir of the Civil War, with almost all
of his  pen-in-ink  drawings.   Over  150  of  the  original
illustrations  featured in the book have been donated to the
VHS from Connecticut resident William Berkley.              

"This gift couldn't have come at a better time  because  the
society  is  playing  a  large role in preparing the state's
Civil War 150th exhibition," said VHS  Director  of  Museums
James Kelly.                                                

An  American  Turning  Point:  The Civil War in Virginia, an
exhibition organized by the Virginia Historical Society  and
funded,  in  part,  by  the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the
American Civil War Commission, will be on display at the VHS
from  February  4  to  December 30, 2011.  After leaving the
VHS, the exhibition travels to museums in Manassas, Roanoke,
Appomattox, Winchester, Hampton, Abingdon, and Lynchburg.   


Conference Examines America in 1859

On April 29, the University of Richmond will host the  first
in a series of annual Signature Conferences sponsored by the
Virginia  Sesquicentennial  of  the   American   Civil   War
Commission.  Dr.  Edward L.  Ayers, UR President, will bring
together nationally-recognized Civil War historians  for  an
open dialogue about the state of the country in 1859.       

"America  on  the  Eve  of  the  Civil  War"  brings a fresh
perspective  on  enduring  issues.   The  program  will   be
conducted in an interactive format with speakers from varied
perspectives.  Akin to news programs like "Face the  Nation"
and  "Meet  the Press," speakers will discuss events of 1859
and their effect, limiting themselves  only  to  what  would
have been known at that time.                               

The  focus  of  the  conference will be the situation in the
United States in what turned out to be the eve of the  Civil
War,  including  central  events  and  changes  of  the late
antebellum era.  Scheduled topics include  Taking  Stock  of
the  Nation  in  1859, The Future of Virginia and the South,
Making Sense of John Brown's Raid, and Predictions  for  the
Election of 1860.                                           

This  day-long conference is free to the public, but seating
is  limited  and  registration  is   required.    For   more
information or to register, go to www.virginiacivilwar.org  


Construction of Appomattox Museum Set for Next Year

The Museum of the Confederacy has selected the architect and
exhibit   designer   for  the  new  museum  system  site  at
Appomattox.  Architectural firm Carlton Abbott and  Partners
and  Haley  Sharpe  Design Limited have been selected by the
museum's board of  trustees  as  the  building  and  exhibit
designers  respectively.   The  Museum  of  the  Confederacy
Appomattox will be located at the  intersection  of  Highway
460  bypass  and  Route 24.  Construction is set to begin in
early 2010 and the museum site will open  to  kick  off  the
150th Anniversary of the Civil War in the spring of 2011.   

"We are excited to have such incredible talents working with
us to ensure that the Museum of the Confederacy - Appomattox
will  be of the highest quality in both its building and its
exhibit design," stated museum president and CEO, S.   Waite
Rawls  III.   "The team will provide the most innovative and
creative  ways  to  bring  our  incredible   collection   of
artifacts  to  life,  putting a very human face on the facts
and figures of history."                                    


Reservations Now Being Accepted for RCWRT Tour

The Richmond Civil War Round Table will have its annual  bus
tour  on  Saturday,  June  6.  This year we will examine the
Culpeper area during the war.  Our daylong trip  will  leave
from  Mary  Munford Elementary School at 7:30 a.m.  en route
to Kelly's Ford.  We will enjoy lunch at the Graffiti House,
then  ride  to  the  battlefield  at  Brandy  Station in the
afternoon.  The bus will return to Richmond at 5 p.m.       

We are  proud  to  announce  that  Greg  Mertz,  a  longtime
historian  with  the  Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National
Military Park, will be our guide.  His  area  of  expertise,
the  cavalry, will be an emphasis of this tour.  Cost of the
trip is $25 per person and payments are now being  accepted.
You may mail your check to:                                 

			David Whitehead                     
			4305 Cary St. Rd.                   
			Richmond, VA 23221                  



Three Virginia Battlefields
Make "Most Endangered" List

The Civil War Preservation Trust  (CWPT)  recently  unveiled
its  annual  report  on  the status of the nation's historic
battlegrounds.  The report, History Under Siege: A Guide  to
America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields, identifies
the most threatened grounds and what can  be  done  to  save
them.  Three Virginia battlefields - Cedar Creek, New Market
Heights and the Wilderness - are listed in the report. Other
endangered  battlefields  noted  in  the  list are Monocacy,
Maryland;   Gettysburg,   Pennsylvania;   South    Mountain,
Maryland;  Port  Gibson,  Mississippi;  Sabine  Pass, Texas;
Spring Hill, Tennessee and Fort Gaines, Alabama.            

Cedar Creek is  today  threatened  by  the  expansion  of  a
limestone mining operation on core battlefield land.  At the
Wilderness, preservationists are facing an uphill battle  to
stop   Walmart  from  building  a  new  138,000-square  foot
supercenter across Route 3 from the battlefield.  New Market
Heights  is  completely  at the mercy of development with no
land  protected   by   preservation   organizations.    Some
significant  potions  of  the  battlefield have already been
destroyed by a housing development.                         


Upcoming Events

Cannon firing and  period  music  are  just  a  few  of  the
highlights  of  the  12th  Annual  Civil War Day at Tredegar
Ironworks on Saturday, April 25.  The  event  will  be  held
from  10  a.m.   to  5 p.m.  and will feature living history
demonstrations throughout the day.  Young  people  can  play
19th  century  children's  games,  tour  the camps, learn to
drill like Civil War soldiers and talk one-on-one  with  the
living history interpreters.                                

Also  on  Saturday, April 25, from 2 p.m.  to 4:30 p.m., the
Museum of the Confederacy will host  "First  Ladies  of  the
Civil  War." Visitors will learn about the interesting lives
of Varina  Howell  Davis  and  Mary  Todd  Lincoln  in  this
informative  program.   Participants  will hear a lecture on
the lives of the First Ladies and the ups and downs of their
marriages.  The program will be followed by a guided tour of
the  White  House  of  the   Confederacy   and   a   special
behind-the-scenes  collections  tour  featuring  items  that
belonged to Varina Davis and her family.                    


A Change is Gonna Come

You're  likely  to  notice  a  considerable  change  in  the
newsletter in the coming months.  For starters, beginning in
May, Gary Cowardin will take over the  responsibilities  for
producing the bulletin.  If you've visited the Round Table's
website, www.rcwrt.org, you've already seen Gary's talent on
display.  He's been our webmaster since we first went online
in 1999.  We greatly appreciate Gary's willingness  to  take
on  this added role.  Other changes will be addressed at the
April meeting.                                              

Gary's E-mail address is:  cowardin@juno.com

There's not enough space for me to list the many people  who
have helped me immensely with the newsletter in the past six
years.  Forgive me as I drag out the  dusty  old  clich‚:  I
couldn't  have  done it without you.  Many thanks and I look
forward to seeing you again each month at our meetings.     


RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2009


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