Bernard Fisher, President              Rob Monroe, Editor       
7300 Ann Cabell Lane                   2416 Edenbrook Dr.       
Mechanicsville, VA 23111               Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
bernard.fisher@comcast.net             RMonroe500@comcast.net   
 June 2007 PROGRAM

David J. Coles

"The Smallest Tadpole:
A Photographic History of Florida in the Civil War"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 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.

Most  Virginians  have  difficulty  coming  to  terms   with
"Florida  in  the  Civil  War."  The  difficulty arises from
thinking of Florida as Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.  The
Florida  that  counted  in the 1860s was very different.  It
was Jacksonville and the St.  Johns River valley, the  horse
country  around Gainesville and Lake City, and the panhandle
region  that  topographically  resembles  southern  Georgia.
Although  sparsely  populated, it provided infantry brigades
to the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of  Tennessee.
One  historian  has termed Florida as "the storehouse of the
Confederacy." A contemporary journalist denounced it as "The
Smallest Tadpole in the Dirty Pool of Secession."           

Dr.   David  J.   Coles  is  uniquely qualified to introduce
Virginians to thetrich and forgottn  historyerof  Civil  War
Florida.   He  is  associate  professor in the Department of
History and Political Science at Longwood University.   Many
Virginians  know  him  as  the  organizer  of the successful
Longwood University/Appomattox Court House National Historic
Park  Annual  Civil  War Seminar held in March.  Coles lived
most of his life in Florida and earned his BA, MA, and Ph.D.
at  Florida  State  University and worked as an archivist at
the Florida  State  Archives.   He  has  written  dozens  of
articles  and  papers  on aspects of the Civil War, Florida,
and American military history, including  the  indispensable
6-volume  work, Biographical Roster of Florida's Confederate
and Union Soldiers, of which he was associate  editor.   His
co-authored  book on Italians in the American Civil War will
be published shortly.  His program will  consist  of  images
relating  to  Florida's  role  in  the  conflict,  including
military operations within the  state  and  the  service  of
Florida  soldiers  in  the  major  armies of the eastern and
western theaters.                                           


Virginia Historical Society Obtains Lee Collection

The Virginia Historical Society (VHS) is known for its  rare
and    nationally   significant   collections,   but   those
collections recently enjoyed a major addition.  For the past
three  years,  VHS  archivists  have  been  inventorying and
cataloging the contents of two wooden trunks found  in  2002
at Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company in Alexandria. These
trunks, discovered by Robert E.  L.  deButts,  Jr.   and  E.
Hunt  Burke,  contained  letters,  legal  papers,  journals,
travel souvenirs, financial records, and  smaller  artifacts
that  were collected by Mary Custis Lee, the eldest daughter
of Robert E. Lee.                                           

Since his death, researchers have lamented that the  general
never  wrote  a  memoir.   This collection contains numerous
letters and notes in the hand of Robert E.   Lee  reflecting
on his long career.  The VHS, which has been selected by the
heirs of Mary Custis Lee as  stewards  of  this  collection,
will  add  these previously unknown items to what is already
the largest holding of  Lee  family  papers  in  any  single
repository.   And,  to the delight of many Civil War and Lee
historians, the VHS has made the majority of the  collection
available  to  researchers  through  the  Society's  library
reading room.                                               

"In my nearly twenty years  as  president  and  CEO  of  the
Virginia  Historical Society, there have been few moments as
spectacular as the discovery of the Mary Custis  Lee  trunks
stored  for  84 years at Burke & Herbert Bank," Dr.  Charles
F. Bryan, Jr.  said.                                        

VHS Senior Archivist Lee Shepard noted, "The  Society  would
like  to  develop educational programs and exhibitions using
the Lee  papers  by  2011  to  help  commemorate  the  150th
anniversary of the American Civil War."                     


Museum of the Confederacy Announces Award Winners

The Museum of the Confederacy has announced  the  recipients
of  its 2007 literary awards competition.  The winner of the
Jefferson Davis  Award  for  outstanding  narrative  on  the
Confederate  period  is  Dr.  Eric H.  Walther, professor of
history at the University of Houston,  for  William  Lowndes
Yancey  and  the  Coming  of the Civil War.  An authority on
antebellum Southern politics  and  author  of  two  previous
books,   Walther  reveals  Yancey's  transformation  from  a
staunch nationalist and opponent of secession to one of  the
most  well-known  Southern  "fireeaters"  who  proved  to be
troublesome for the nation he helped to inspire.  The  award
judges  praised  both  his  deep  research  and engaging and
insightful profile of a complex man.                        

The Founders Award for  excellence  in  editing  of  primary
source documents on the Confederate period is awarded to Dr.
Kimberly Harrison, an  associate  professor  of  English  at
Florida  International  University,  for A Maryland Bride in
the Deep-South: The  Civil  War  Diary  of  Priscilla  Bond.
Harrison's  skillful  editing  and  use of detailed maps and
guides to characters and places  impressed  the  three-judge
panel  for  providing  a  portal  into  the private lives of
mid-19th century Southern women.                            

The  museum's  Jefferson  Davis  and  Founders  Awards  were
established in 1970.                                        


June Events Calendar


The Richmond Battlefields Association will hold  its  annual
meeting  on  Saturday,  June  9,  at  Drewry's  Bluff  (Fort
Darling), eight miles  south  of  Richmond  in  Chesterfield
County.   Robert E.L.  Krick will lead a walking tour of the
site giving special emphasis to subjects and  locations  not
commonly addressed by the on-site interpretation.  The RBA's
annual meeting will follow the tour.  The  event  begins  at
10am and last about two hours.  It is free to all, including
non-members.      For      more      information,      email
admin@saverichmondbattlefields.org

At  2pm  on Saturday, June 16, the American Civil War Center
will  host  a  program  by  living  historians  representing
Knibb's  Confederate  Battery.   They will tell the story of
the Tredegar Battalion,  a  wartime  Richmond  militia  unit
composed  of workers from the Tredegar iron works.  For more
information, go to www.tredegar.org

The Exchange  Hotel  in  Gordonsville  is  one  of  the  few
Confederate  hospital  buildings  restored  to its Civil War
appearance.  The building now houses a Civil War Medical and
Hospital  Museum.  During the war the hospital received over
70,000 Confederate and Federal sick and wounded.  The museum
will  host  a  reenactment  and  living  history  weekend on
Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and  17.   Pre-registration  is
required  to  enjoy  the free meal but walk-ons are welcome.
For   more    information    contact    Ron    Sanders    at
ColWHTaylor@crucialisp.com  or  call  (540)  672-4482.   The
museum may be reached at (540) 832-2944.

Pamplin Historical Park will host its largest event  of  the
year, Civil War Weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and
24.  In addition to artillery and small arms demonstrations,
there  will  be  interaction  with  soldiers in camp, period
music and a Civil War-era magician.  Authors  James  Robbins
(Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett, and the Goats of West
Point) and Eileen M.  Patch (This  from  George:  Civil  War
Letters of Sergeant George Magusta Englis 1861-1865) will be
on hand.  For more information go to www.pamplinpark.org

At 2pm on  Sunday,  June  24,  reporter  and  editor  Andrew
Ferguson  be at the American Civil War Center to discuss his
new  book.   Land   of   Lincoln   is   a   curiosity-fueled
coast-to-coast  journey through contemporary Lincoln Nation.
With a mix of presidential biography  and  popular  history,
Ferguson  has  produced  a  humorous  yet  poignant  look at
Abraham Lincoln and his place in America today.  A book sale
and  signing will follow the program.  For more information,
go to www.tredegar.org


Civil War Book Review Interviews Freehling

Civil War Book Review is an online journal of new  or  newly
reprinted   books  about  the  antebellum,  Civil  War,  and
Reconstruction eras.  The journal is  posted  quarterly  and
the  current  (Spring  2007) issue has an interview with our
May 2007 speaker, William Freehling, and  a  review  of  his
latest  book.  The Civil War Book Review and is a project of
the  United  States  Civil  War  Center,   Louisiana   State
University Libraries Special Collections and can be accessed
at www.cwbr.com


Railings Stolen from Petersburg Monument

On May 10 it was discovered that a  person  or  persons  had
driven  away  with 22 historic railings which surrounded the
Pennsylvania Monument on Wakefield Street in Petersburg. The
railings,  made  of  bronze,  measure seven to eight feet in
length and three to four inches in diameter.                

Of all the monuments in this historic city, the Pennsylvania
Monument was the only one to be dedicated in the presence of
a United States President, William Howard Taft.  On May  19,
1909  President  Taft attended the dedication ceremony along
with veterans of Pennsylvania regiments who  fought  in  the
Battle  of  Fort  Stedman  on  March 25, 1865 as well as the
assault on Confederate Fort Mahone on April  2,  1865.   The
Pennsylvania   veterans,  who  were  members  of  the  Third
Division of the Ninth Corps,  were  escorted  by  the  local
chapter  of the United Confederate Veterans, namely the A.P.
Hill Camp.                                                  

A  $500  reward  is  being  offered  to  anyone  who  offers
information  leading  to  the  arrest  and conviction of the
perpetrator(s).  Anyone who has any knowledge or information
regarding this theft is requested to call the Ranger Station
at Petersburg National Battlefield at (804) 732-3966 or Park
Ranger Richard Hotchkiss at (804) 691-4786.  Information can
also be submitted to the  Petersburg  Police  Department  at
(804) 732-4222.                                             


Spring Tour of Fredericksburg a Rousing Success

The Richmond Civil  War  Round  Table  wishes  to  thank  Ed
Wooldridge   for   organizing   our   spring   tour  of  the
Fredericksburg battlefield.  Our guide, Frank O'Reilly, gave
us a highly informative and entertaining tour of the crucial
southern end of the  battlefield  including  the  "Slaughter
Pen."  We  were  the  first  tour  group  to walk along this
important 200+ acre tract being purchased by the  Civil  War
Preservation Trust.  Kudos Ed!                              


RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2007


You can receive your newsletter sooner and help the Richmond
Civil  War  Round  Table save money by signing up to receive
your newsletter via email.  To add your name  to  the  list,
simply email the editor at RMonroe500@comcast.net   Thanks! 


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