Brag Bowling, President         Rob Monroe, Editor     
3019 Kensington Ave             2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23221              Richmond, VA 23228-3040

June 2003 PROGRAM

Chris M. Calkins
"Saving Petersburg's Battlefields"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 10, 2003, 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.

Chris Calkins has been with the National Park Service for 29
years  and  has  served  at  Appomattox Court House National
Historical  Park,  Fredericksburg  &  Spotsylvania  National
Military  Park,  and,  since  1981,  as an historian and now
Chief of Interpretation at Petersburg National Battlefield. 

He has authored eight publications, numerous  articles,  and
has  spoken  nationally  to  many  Civil War and battlefield
preservation  groups.   He  is  the  author  of  the  highly
acclaimed "Lee's Retreat" driving tour (featured in Life and
Southern Living magazines) which is  now  being  used  as  a
successful   example   for   many   other   regions  in  the
Commonwealth and nationwide.                                

Active in battlefield preservation efforts, he served on the
board  of directors for eight years with the Association for
the Preservation of Civil War Sites, Inc., and helped broker
the preservation of seven battle sites around Petersburg and
Appomattox during that time.   These  include  portions  of:
White Oak Road, Five Forks, Reams Station, Hatchers Run, The
Sixth Corps Breakthrough (now Pamplin Park), Sailor's  Creek
and Lee's rearguard position at Appomattox.                 

He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, graduated from Longwood
College (now university) in Farmville and is married to  the
former  Miss  Sarah  Brown  from Appomattox.  They live in a
restored 18th century  mansion  in  Petersburg's  Old  Towne
Historic District.                                          

Calkins  will  present  a  discussion of the Land Protection
Report  for  the  proposed  General   Management   Plan   at
Petersburg  National  Battlefield.  The talk will cover what
battlefields the park hopes to save and how it will  do  so.
Calkins  will  explain  the methodology behind the decisions
and how PNB arrived at the proposed 7,000 acre expansion.   


Review of the May Program


Ervin L.  Jordan, Jr.,  presented  an  informative  talk  on
"History's  Heretics:  Afro-Confederates  and  the  American
Civil War." He began  by  discussing  an  Afro-Virginia  who
fought   for   the   Confederacy  at  the  First  Battle  of
Manassas-John Parker, a slave from King  and  Queen  County.
Parker served as a gunner in a battery but hoped for a Union
victory.  Later he escaped and fled to the North.  There  he
lectured  on  the  causes  of  the  war,  charging ten cents
admission to his speeches.  Parker advertised himself as the
only black soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia.  Jordan
pointed out that this claim  was  not  correct  but  that  a
number  of  blacks  served  under  General Robert E.  Lee in
various capacities during the war.                          

In 1861, most Southerners  thought  that  their  region  was
united  behind the war effort, regardless of race.  This was
not   true,   but   it   is   an   undeniable   fact    that
Afro-Confederates  did voluntarily offer to "live and die in
Dixie." Jordan pointed out  that  this  is  not  politically
correct     but     is    historically    correct.     These
Afro-Confederates have largely been ignored  by  historians.
The  historians  who  try  to  deny this fact claim that any
blacks who aided the Confederacy did so  only  because  they
were  coerced.   According  to  Jordan,  however, throughout
history  oppressed  peoples  have   actively   aided   their
oppressors.   Afro-Confederates  were  motivated  by several
things, including fear  of  retribution,  loyalty  to  their
masters and their state, and repudiation of their blackness.
Many  free  blacks  feared  being  enslaved  in  a  post-war
Confederacy if they did not actively show their loyalty.    

Early  in  the  war, many Southerners were willing to accept
blacks  in  the  army,   particularly   free   blacks,   but
Confederate  governmental  policy  forbid  their enlistment.
Jordan  said  that  blacks  nevertheless  fought  at   First
Manassas,  the  Peninsula,  the  Seven Days, Sharpsburg, and
Fredericksburg.    In   particular,    blacks    acted    as
sharpshooters   for  the  Confederate  army.   Jordan  cited
several instances of men who served as snipers.  He  pointed
out  that  these  men  were  cheap  but  effective  fighting
machines.  If they were killed, the loss  was  insignificant
because others were ready to take their place.              

Jordan  stated  that  body  servants  were  the  most  loyal
Afro-Confederates.  Occasionally, they did take up arms  and
fight,  but  this  was rare.  Their motivations varied, some
simply enjoying the  opportunity  to  kill  whites.   Jordan
warned  that  not all anecdotes about black Confederates are
credible and said that  researchers  must  be  very  careful
about  interpreting  the data.  One instance he provided was
the conversion of a "color  bearer"  at  Gettysburg  into  a
"colored  flag  bearer."  When  asked  about numbers, Jordan
stated that we will never know.  He has estimated  that  ten
percent of Virginia's free blacks and twenty-five percent of
her slaves probably were loyal to the Confederacy.          

In war, three things always die-young  men,  civilians,  and
the  truth.  The truth of the existence of Afro-Confederates
was  quickly  forgotten.   Jordan  said  that  he  want   to
objectively understand them and their motivations.          


Announcements & Events

June 14

The Richmond Battlefields Association will be hosting a talk
and tour at Fort Harrison. See the article below.           


June 14

A ranger from the Petersburg National Battlefield Park  will
present the "Battle of Old Men and Young Boys" at the Centre
Hill Mansion in Petersburg.  Talks will be held at 11 am,  1
pm and 3 pm.  This event is free.  For more information call
the park at 804-732-3531.                                   


June 14-15

A reenactment of Grant's 1864 crossing of  the  James  River
will be held east of Hopewell at Flowerdew Hundred off Route
10.  Battles will  be  featured  both  days  as  well  as  a
reconstruction  of  part  of the pontoon bridge that carried
the Union  army  over  the  river.   Activities  take  place
between 9 am and 4 pm both days.  Admission is $6.  For more
information call 804-541-8897.                              

June 21

A ranger from the Petersburg National Battlefield Park  will
present   "Confederate  Recruiting  Station"  in  Olde  Town
Petersburg.  Talks will be held at 11 am, 1  pm  and  3  pm.
Admission  is  free.   For more information call the park at
804-732-3531.                                               


June 21-22

The Exchange Hotel Civil War  Museum  in  Gordonsville  will
feature   its  popular  annual  program  of  medical  living
history.  This reenactment of a Civil War hospital  will  be
held  at the hotel that was converted into a wartime medical
facility.   For  more  information  call   the   museum   at
540-832-2944 or visit its website, www.hgiexchange.org.     

June 26 & 28

Blandford Cemetery will be the focus of two  programs  being
presented  by  the  Petersburg  National  Battlefield  Park.
"Stories in Stone: A Tale  of  Two  Cemeteries"  and  "Every
Tombstone  is  a Biography" will be the topics of discussion
on Thursday and Saturday nights respectively.   Both  events
are   free  and  begin  at  7  pm  at  Blandford  Church  in
Petersburg.  For information call 804-732-3531.             

June 27-29

A special anniversary program and  living  history  will  be
among the events taking place over the weekend at the Gaines
Mill battlefield off Route 156.  Activities include  walking
tours,  rifle  demonstrations  and  an  encampment  of Union
infantry.  Friday night's program is free and  begins  at  7
pm.   Events  take  place between 10 am and 5 pm on Saturday
and from 10 am to 4 pm Sunday.  For more information contact
the  Richmond  National  Battlefield Park at 804-226-1861 or
log on to www.nps.gov/rich.                                 

News from the Richmond Battlefields Association

The Richmond Battlefields Association (RBA)  will  hold  its
annual  tour and meeting on Saturday, June 14.  Dr.  Richard
Sommers, author of Richmond Redeemed, will  speak  and  sign
books at 1:00 pm at the Varina Episcopal Church on 2835 Mill
Road at Route 5.  The talk will be followed by a tour of the
RBA's  newly  acquired  land at Fort Harrison.  Admission is
free, donations are appreciated.                            

The association is seeking to raise funds  by  participating
in  the  Ukrop's  Golden  Gift Certificate program.  Ukrop's
mailed certificates to customers in early May.  The RBA will
collect  as  many  of  these  certificates as possible.  The
association  will  receive  a  donation  by  turning   these
certificates back in to Ukrop's.  The amount of the donation
is to be determined by the number of certificates collected.
You  can  help support the RBA by bringing your certificates
to the June meeting of the RCWRT.  You may  also  mail  your
certificates to:                                            

David West        
88 West Square Dr.
Richmond, VA 23233

The RBA is a non-profit  organization  working  to  preserve
local  battlefields.   Information about the association may
be found its website, www.saverichmondbattlefields.org.     

Newsletter Deadlines

To facilitate the printing and timely  distribution  of  the
monthly  newsletter,  information for it should be submitted
to the editors no later than the following dates:           

July newsletter, June 20        
August newsletter, July 25      
September newsletter, August 22 
October newsletter, September 26
November newsletter, October 24 
December newsletter, November 21

Information may be emailed to rmonroe@richmond.com

RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2003


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