Sam Craghead, President         Art & Carol Bergeron, Editors
4361F Lakefield Mews            3901 Paces Ferry Road      
Richmond, VA 23231              Chester, VA 23831-1239   

June 2001 PROGRAM

Robert A. Jones

"Confederate Corsair:
The Life of Lt. Charles W. "Savez" Read"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 12, 2001, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.)

When most people think of  the  Civil  War,  they  think  of
battles on land - Manassas, Sharpsburg, or Gettysburg. There
was another conflict taking place just as significant to the
outcome  of  the  war.  Union and Confederate navies battled
for command of the seas, rivers, and harbors.   To  see  how
one  sided  the writing has been, go to a well-know internet
book company, type in "Gettysburg," and  you  get  over  400
books;  type  in  "Confederate  States Navy," and you get 26
books.                                                      

One of the little-known heroes of this  maritime  legacy  is
Confederate  Lieutenant  Charles  W.   "Savez"  Read.  After
resigning his commission in  the  U.S.   Navy  to  join  the
Confederacy  in  1861, the young Mississippian served aboard
the  C.  S.  S. McRae, Arkansas, Florida, and  Webb,  taking
part in some of the most exciting naval actions of the Civil
War.  Read's bravery and coolness in  battle  earned  him  a
reputation  as  one  of  the  most respected officers in the
Confederate States Navy.  He has been compared to John  Paul
Jones.   Admiral  George  Dewey wrote that Read's raiding up
the East Coast was worthy of the days of Drake.             

Robert A.  Jones holds a B.S.  in mechanical engineering and
has  been  employed by the Navy Department for 35 years.  He
provided historical background research for a 1970  proposal
to the Smithsonian Institution for salvage of the U.  S.  S.
Tecumseh and has published an article on the salvage of  the
C.   S.   S.   Virginia.  Jones is the author of Confederate
Corsair,  The  Life  of  Lt.   Charles  W.   "Savez"   Read,
published  by  Stackpole  Books.   He  currently  resides in
Potomac, Maryland.                                          


Review of the May Program



Professor Gary W.  Gallagher presented  an  interesting  and
informative  talk  on  how  Confederates  came to terms with
defeat after the Civil War.   He  began  by  discussing  the
reasons  historians  have  advanced  for the collapse of the
Confederate war effort.  Gallagher disputes  the  contention
that  dissention behind the lines led to defeat.  Looking at
what people wrote at the time rather than  memoirs  produced
years  later,  Gallagher has concluded that the Confederates
capitulated because organized and  determined  Union  troops
defeated   them   on   the  battlefield.   Any  thoughts  of
large-scale  resistance  through  guerrilla   warfare   were
suppressed  because Southerners realized that they had lost.
This did not mean, however, that the former Confederates did
not remain bitter for many years.                           

Southerners  had  reasons  to  harbor  ill will toward their
conquerors.  They could not find many of their relatives who
had been killed on the battlefield and buried far from home.
Mass destruction over most of the South, particularly in the
major  cities, led to poverty.  The opposing armies had left
wastelands behind them.  In places, no  barns,  animals,  or
crops  remained.  Homes and fences had been destroyed.  Some
people were forced to live in the  woods  and  eat  whatever
they  could  find  there.  Finally, the abolition of slavery
was viewed as a great  social  crime  by  many  Southerners.
Former  Confederates  were the only Americans to ever lose a
war.                                                        

Despite all of this, most former Confederates, both soldiers
and  civilians,  remained loyal to the ideals of Confederacy
and those  things  for  which  they  had  given  their  all.
Gallagher  quoted  one  woman who said, "I hope I never love
anything as much  as  I  loved  the  cause."  Although  many
civilians,  particularly women, had suffered during the war,
they were not bitter about it.   They  felt  they  had  done
whatever was necessary to support the men in the armies.  He
pointed out that most former Confederates believed that they
had  had  a  perfect  right  to  secede  and that they never
thought  of  themselves  as  traitors.    Many   Southerners
harbored  deep  resentment  against the Yankees, and in some
cases hatred of Northerners was kept alive for decades after
the war.                                                    

Gallagher  looked briefly at Robert E.  Lee and how he dealt
with defeat.  In public,  Lee's  words  spoke  strongly  for
reconciliation.   However,  in  private,  he  hated what had
happened to the South and the Confederate cause.  Lee  wrote
to  former  general  Jubal  Early  that he wanted to write a
history of the war that would  tell  the  truth  about  what
happened.   He  even  asked Early and others to help provide
documents so he could begin work.  Early eagerly  agreed  to
assist  because he, too, worried about how future historians
would view Confederate history.  Old Jube strongly  believed
in honoring the brave dead who had fought for a noble cause.

Lee  was really the most important former Confederate in the
years after the war.  He was a great  example  of  what  was
good  about  the cause.  Early and others focused on Lee and
his role as a great Christian soldier.  Marse Robert  became
the  Confederacy's George Washington, something that had its
origins during  the  war.   Supporters  of  the  Lost  Cause
decided  to  erect monuments to Lee and became determined to
keep alive the honor of the Confederacy.   They  established
holidays  on the birthdays of leaders like Lee and Stonewall
Jackson, built  monuments  all  over  the  South,  decorated
graves, and began trying to preserve battlefields.          


Announcements


New Round Table Raffle

The book raffle  for  the  June  meeting  will  feature  The
Beleaguered  City:  Richmond, 1861-1865, by Alfred Hoyt Bill
(1st Edition).  Proceeds go to battlefield preservation,  so
participation in the raffle is encouraged.                  


Ukrop's Golden Gift Certificates

Members of the Round Table  are  encouraged  to  save  their
Ukrop's   Golden   Gift   Certificates   and  use  them  for
battlefield  preservation.   Our  efforts  this  year   will
benefit  the  Richmond  Battlefields Association (RBA).  The
RBA should obtain its 501(C)(3) designation  this  year  and
will actively attempt to preserve local battlefields. Please
mail your certificates to David West, 88 West Square  Drive,
Richmond,  VA 23233, or bring them to the June meeting where
David will collect them.                                    


Museum Sponsors Civil War Walking Tours

The Museum of Culpeper History has begun Civil  War  Walking
Tours  of  the town for the summer season.  Virginia Morton,
an authority on the history of the area, will be  conducting
the  tours  on  the first and third Saturdays of each month,
May through  October.   This  two-hour  program  covers  the
fighting  that  took  place in Culpeper and the story of the
civilians who lived there  during  the  war.   Additionally,
full  or  half-day  tours  can  be customized to include the
museum; the battlefields of Brandy Station, Cedar  Mountain,
or Kelly's Ford; and historic homes and buildings.  For more
information, contact the Museum of Culpeper History, P.   O.
Box  951, Culpeper, VA 22701, phone (540) 829-1749, or visit
www.culpepermuseum.com.                                     


North Anna Campaign Reenactment

On August 17-19, a reenactment of the battles of  the  North
Anna  Campaign  will be held at Rock Castle Farm in historic
Hanover County.  The program will  feature  reenactments  of
the  battles of Jericho Mills and Chesterfield Bridge.  Rock
Castle Farm was the site of Union headquarters  on  May  24,
1864,  and was also used as a Federal field hospital.  These
events are a part of Hanover Civil War Heritage Weekend. For
more  information,  call (804) 530-1597 or (804) 356-8868 or
visit www.civilwarheritageweekend.com.                      


Civil War Seminar

The George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War
is presenting a seminar "The Civil War and American Society"
on  June  21-24.   Spend  a   long   weekend   in   historic
Shepherdstown,  West Virginia, as the program focuses on the
soldiers  and  sailors  who  participated  in  the  greatest
conflict  in  our  nation's  history.   This  program brings
together new and renowned scholars and historians.  Featured
topics  include  combat  aboard the Navy's wooden ships, the
relationship between McClellan and the soldiers of the  Army
of  the  Potomac,  the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of
the United States, and more.                                

Presenters at this seminar include Dr.  Lesley J.  Gordon of
the  Department  of History, University of Akron; Dr.  Carol
Reardon, professor of history at Penn State University;  Tom
Clemens,   professor  of  history  at  Hagerstown  Community
College;  Dennis  Ringle,  a  retired  naval  commander  and
author;  Frank O'Reilly, resident historian at the Stonewall
Jackson Shrine; Dr.  Ethan Rafuse, author of  several  books
and  articles;  and  Dana  B.   Shoaf,  associate  editor of
America's Civil War magazine.                               

Tours will include the Seven Days Battles with Dr.  Reardon;
the  newly restored  U.  S.  S. Constellation at Baltimore's
Inner Harbor with Mr.  Ringle; and  Fort  McHenry  with  Tom
Clemens.                                                    

For  a  registration  form  or  more  information, write The
George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of  the  Civil  War,
Shepherdstown, WV 25443 or call (304) 876-5429.             


Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Art & Carol Bergeron, Editors
3901 Paces Ferry Road
Chester, VA 23831-1239