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Rob Monroe, President Gary Cowardin, Editor 9733 Fireside Drive 1404 Lorraine Ave. Glen Allen, VA 23060 Richmond, VA 23227-3735 rmonroe500@comcast.net cowardin@juno.com4602 Cary Street Road, 23226. A parking lot is available behind the church with an entrance off the parking lot to the right and up a few steps into the DINING HALL on the left.
"1864 Campaign" by Christopher L. Kolakowski 7:30pm, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, at the First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA.,
Christopher L. Kolakowski is Director of the MacArthur Memorial in
Norfolk, Va. He received his BA in History and Mass Communications from
Emory & Henry College, and his MA in Public History from the State
University of New York at Albany.
Chris has spent his career interpreting and preserving American military
history with the National Park Service, New York State government, the
Rensselaer County (NY) Historical Society, the Civil War Preservation
Trust, Kentucky State Parks, and the U.S. Army. He has written and
spoken on various aspects of military history from 1775 to the present.
He has published three books on Civil War campaigns in Virginia,
Kentucky, and Tennessee, and one book on the 1941-42 defense of the
Philippines. He is a contributor to the Emerging Civil War Blog, a
reviewer and contributor to the Air Force Journal of Indo-Pacific
Studies, and is currently working on a book about the 1944 India-Burma
Campaigns.
Meeting Attendance for March: 94
NOTE: Please put on your NAME BADGE on when you arrive for the meeting.
(They will be on a table near the back or side of the room.)
Message from Our President Traditions. They are customs passed on from year-to-year and generation-to-generation. We have them in our government, our workplace and especially our families. Often traditions take the form of actions done in remembrance of significant events. It's a way of helping us remember our roots. Traditions bridge the generations. The Richmond Civil War Round Table has a tradition of note: the reading of Robert E. Lee's General Orders Number Nine at our April meetings. Like Sullivan Ballou's letter back home to his wife in Rhode Island days before he was killed at the Battle of First Manassas, it has a profound impact on me every time I hear it read. The 100th time I heard it was as impactful as the first. I wonder what emotions must have come over Lee's weary, hungry men as they gathered to hear their general's words. Were they defiant, determined to continue the fight? Were they relieved to know the conflict had come to an end and they could now finally go home? Were they heartbroken when remembering their friends who had died fighting in a war that could not be won? I think it's safe to assume they felt all these emotions and more. What must their journey home have been like? How many days or weeks of walking would it take to be reunited with their loved ones? How many thousands of soldiers were on their way home when they learned of Lincoln's assassination? Did they dare trust the people who told them the news or were these strangers merely repeating rumors? Certainly America was a much different place at the end of April 1865 than it had been at the beginning of the month. None of us can fully know the feelings of the people-north and south-who lived through this tumultuous time. But the reading of General Orders Number Nine gives us the opportunity to be a soldier on the field that day in April 1865. And that's a tradition worth preserving. Rob
From Our Second V.P Save the Date - Saturday, June 29 Hi All, "BOOKS for BUCKS" While we appreciate the donations to our monthly "Books for Bucks" table, we kindly ask to please not contribute any more books until further notice. We have an ample and varied inventory right now to last for some time to come. Thanks for your understanding - and please consider purchasing a book. At $10 for hard covers and $5 for soft covers they are a steal. BOOK DISCOUNT AVAILABLE The University of North Carolina Press (www.uncpress.org)is offering RCWRT members a significant discount on books they publish by authors such as Gary Gallagher, Earl Hess, and A. Wilson Greene. With a purchase of $75 you will receive a 40 percent discount plus free shipping. At checkout, enter the promo code: 01DAH40 Go directly to www.uncpress.org/american-history-sale/civil-war/ FACEBOOK We now have a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/richmondcwrt/ Please be sure to check it out and "like" us. Ulli 2019 ANNUAL FIELD TRIP - SATURDAY, JUNE 29 I am very pleased to announce that the one and only Bobby Krick has agreed to lead this year's field trip which will occur on Saturday, June 29, 2019. We will be visiting a series of sites affiliated with the 1864 Overland Campaign north of Richmond - that week-long period that bridged the end of Spotsylvania and the start of Cold Harbor. Specifically we will see the well preserved North Anna battlefield (May 23-26) from a variety of locations, including one short stop at the Jericho Mill portion of the battlefield. In the afternoon we will ride east in the footsteps of the Union army toward the Pamunkey River. Our trip will conclude with stops at the Haw's Shop cavalry battlefield (May 28, 1864) and the Totopotomoy Creek battlefield (May 29 - June 1, 1864). The North Anna portion of the trip will include a fair amount of walking - close to three miles, in two separate segments - all of which will occur on dirt roads or on maintained trails. There will be no cross-country hiking on this particular tour. The second half of the tour will feature almost no walking at all. We will leave from the Lowes parking lot on Brook Road (at Parham) at 9:00 a.m. and will be back around 4:30 p.m. We plan on having lunch at the picnic area at Ox Ford so please bring a bag lunch, water will be provided. The cost is just $35 per person. Make your check payable to RCWRT, bring it to a meeting, or mail it to: Ulli Baumann 9347 Berry Farm Court Mechanicsville, VA 23116
A Message from our Secretary Andy Keller Membership growth is always important to any organization and we are no exception. Accordingly, the membership form has been simplified to a one-page application which is to be used by only by new members and is available on our website. There is no longer a member renewal form. If you have a change of address or phone number, please email it to: Secretary.rcwrt@gmail.com The form can be found at: rcwrt.org and click on: RCWRT Membership Form Andy
Upcoming Events/Links
National Park Service Richmond
Richmond Battlefields Association News & Events www.saverichmondbattlefields.org/events.htm
Visit the American Civil War Museum at Tredegar and the White House of the Confederacy www.acwm.org
Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier www.pamplinpark.org
Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours civilwarseminars.org
RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2019
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