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

August 2003 PROGRAM

Clint Johnson
"Bull's Eyes and Misfires: 
50 People Whose Obscure Efforts      
       Shaped the American Civil War"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 12, 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.

Clint Johnson is a  native  of  Florida  and  descendant  of
Confederates   from   Florida,  Georgia  and  Alabama.   His
ancestors suffered the range of Civil War experiences.   One
Florida  ancestor  lost an arm at Fredericksburg when he had
to fight in the  open  after  those  selfish  Mississippians
hogged  all  the houses for cover.  One Alabama ancestor was
mortally wounded charging up Snod Grass Hill at  Chickamauga
with  his  regiment suffering 73 percent killed and wounded.
One Georgia ancestor was labeled as  "addle-brained  by  the
war"  in  his pension application.  Another Georgia ancestor
survived the frigid Ohio winters after nearly two  years  in
the  Johnson's  Island prison camp for officers, only to die
at the age of 36 from the ill health he  suffered  from  the
result of his prison camp experience.                       

Johnson  returned  to  the  home  of  his  ancestors,  North
Carolina, in 1987.  Both branches of his family had  settled
in  the  colony  in  the 1720's and 1750's.  He has lived in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina,  since  1989  and  makes  his
living  writing  books  and  magazine articles.  He has just
finished his  seventh  book,  In  The  Footsteps  of  J.E.B.
Stuart, which will come out in September.  That finishes his
trilogy with the earlier publication of In The Footsteps  of
Robert  E.   Lee  and In The Footsteps of Stonewall Jackson.
His  other  books  include  Touring  Virginia's   and   West
Virginia's Civil War Sites, Touring The Carolinas' Civil War
Sites, and Civil War Blunders.  All  of  his  books  can  be
purchased  and  autographed  by  him  from  his  website  at
www.clintjohnsonbooks.com or ordered from any  bookstore  or
Internet-based  bookseller.   His books have garnered mostly
5-star reviews on Amazon.                                   

His latest book and the subject of this month's presentation
is Bull's-Eyes and Misfires: 50 People Whose Obscure Efforts
Shaped the American Civil War.  This book is a collection of
mini-biographies  that  looks  at  25  Confederates  and  25
Federals,  men  and  women,  blacks  and  whites,   military
officers  and  civilians  who  initiated  some type of major
action during the war, but who are  mostly  unknown  to  the
average  person  reading  about  the  war.   Each  person is
labeled either a "bull's-eye" for a positive contribution to
their  side  or a "misfire" for a mistake that damaged their
side's chances of winning a battle or, in  some  cases,  the
entire war.                                                 


Review of the July Program


Dave Smith gave a lively talk  on  the  controversy  between
former  Confederate generals Joseph E.  Johnston and John C.
Pemberton that developed after  the  Civil  War.   In  1874,
Pemberton  was  living in Warrenton, Virginia, and was angry
after  having  fought  for  years  to  clear  his  name  and
re-establish   his   reputation.    He  had  just  read  Joe
Johnston's memoirs, Narrative  of  Military  Operations  and
decided  that  he  had to write a response to set the record
straight.  Pemberton began with a point-by-point  refutation
of  charges  that  Johnston  had  leveled  against him.  The
latter's book blamed Jefferson Davis and Pemberton  for  the
Vicksburg debacle in the summer of 1863.  By 1881, Pemberton
had completed his  manuscript,  but  it  was  not  published
before  his  death  that  year.  His widow sent it to former
general Marcus Wright, in whose  papers  it  was  discovered
several years ago.  Smith edited and published it in 1999 as
Compelled to  Appear  in  Print:  The  Vicksburg  Manuscript
General of John C. Pemberton.                               

In October 1862, Pemberton received assignment to command of
the Department of Mississippi and East  Louisiana  with  the
recently  conferred  rank  of  lieutenant  general.  Born in
Pennsylvania, he had graduated from West Point and married a
woman   from  Norfolk,  Virginia.   Pemberton  resigned  his
commission in April 1861 and by January  1862  was  a  major
general  commanding  Confederate  forces  in South Carolina.
There he performed competently but not spectacularly.  Smith
said  that  we  might  never  know why Jefferson Davis chose
Pemberton as commander in Mississippi.                      

Johnston was a Virginian and also a graduate of West  Point.
He  served  in  the  Mexican  War  and  became quartermaster
general in 1861.  When Johnston joined the Confederate army,
he  became  upset with Davis for not placing his name at the
top  of  the  list  of  full  generals.   He  commanded  the
Confederate army at First Manassas and during the Peninsular
Campaign.  Wounded at Fair Oaks, Johnston  did  not  recover
until  November  1862,  when  he  was  assigned  by Davis to
command the armies of General Braxton Bragg  and  Pemberton.
Johnston was never comfortable with this position.          

The  three  main  charges  leveled  by Johnston that rankled
Pemberton were: (1) Pemberton  was  at  fault  for  allowing
Ulysses S.  Grant's army to gain a foothold on the east side
of the Mississippi River in early May  1863;  (2)  Pemberton
failed  to  take  advantage of opportunities to defeat Grant
before the Battle of Champion Hill; and (3) Pemberton should
not have fallen back to the trenches at Vicksburg and become
besieged.   In  his  manuscript,  Pemberton  refuted   these
charges  and  pointed  to Johnston's failures to support him
before the siege or come to his  relief  during  it.   Smith
concluded   that  Pemberton's  account  doesn't  change  our
understanding of the flow of the Vicksburg Campaign, but  it
helps  to  balance  our  understanding  of  the  Confederate
perspective of the  loss  of  Vicksburg  and,  perhaps,  our
understanding of the war as well.                           


Upcomming Events

August 15

"War at Their Doorstep, Spotsylvanians Caught  Amidst  War".
This  free  walking  tour  offered by the Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania National Military Park begins at 7 pm in  front
of  the  old  Spotsylvania Courthouse, Rt.  208 at Rt.  613.
Information: www.nps.gov/frsp or 540-373-6122.              

August 16

"Every  Tombstone  is  a  Biography",  a   special   program
presented  at historic Blandford Church in Petersburg.  Free
of  charge,  this  event  begins  at  7  pm.                
Information: 804-732-3521.

August 16 & 17

National Civil War Antiques and Arms Show at  The  Showplace
on  Mechanicsville  Turnpike in Richmond.  Show will feature
more than 500 tables of swords,  guns,  artwork  and  books.
Open  9  am  to  5  pm  Saturday  and  9  am to 3 pm Sunday.
Admission is $6.  Sponsored by North  South  Trader's  Civil
War magazine of Orange.  Information: www.nstcivilwar.com   
                                    or 540-672-4845.

Richmond National Battlefield Park  presents  "The  Changing
Face of War" at Cold Harbor and Gaines' Mill battlefields in
Hanover County.  Re-enactors of the 4th Texas Infantry  will
be present to discuss the changes in attitudes, uniforms and
tactics between the battles of Gaines' Mill in 1862 and Cold
Harbor  two  years  later.   Rifle firing demonstrations and
ranger-guided walking tours will take place both  days  from
11  am  to 2 pm at Gaines' Mill and from 12:30 to 3:30 pm at
Cold Harbor.  Information: www.nps.gov/rich
                           or 804-226-1981.



August 22

"Place of  Worship,  Scene  of  War:  Old  Salem  Church  by
Candlelight",  hour-long  tours  beginning at 8:00, 8:30 and
9:00 pm at the church on  Rt.   3  west  of  Fredericksburg.
Parking  will  be  available  at  the  adjacent  "new" Salem
Baptist   Church.     Information: www.nps.gov/frsp
                                   or 540-373-6122.


August 28

"Stories in Stone: A Tale  of  Two  Cemeteries",  a  special
program  presented  at Petersburg's Blandford Church.  Event
begins  at  7  pm,  no   admission   charge.    Information:
804-732-3521.


August 29-31

Manassas National Battlefield  Park  will  feature  numerous
tours  and living history programs throughout the weekend to
commemorate the anniversary of the  1862  Battle  of  Second
Manassas.   Several one-hour walking tours will be conducted
throughout  the  weekend  as  well  as  soldier  portrayals,
encampments   and   infantry  demonstrations.               
Information: www.nps.gov/mana or 703-361-1339.


September 7

The Valentine Museum Richmond History Center presents "Civil
War  Richmond", a walking tour of war related sites near the
Capitol and the Museum of  the  Confederacy.   The  two-hour
walk  begins at 2 pm at St.  Paul's Church (often called the
Church of the Confederacy) on the corner of Grace and 9th St.


 New on Video and DVD 


Warner Home Entertainment has announced the release of "Gods
and  Generals" on videocassette and DVD.  The Civil War epic
was released in theaters nationwide earlier this year.  Based
on  the  book  by  Jeff  Shaara,  "Gods  and  Generals" is a
production of Antietam Filmworks and  is  presented  by  Ted
Turner  Pictures.   Directed  by Ron Maxwell, the film stars
Stephen Lang as Stonewall Jackson, Jeff  Daniels  as  Joshua
Chamberlain,  Robert Duvall as Robert E.  Lee, Kali Rocha as
Anna Jackson and Mira Sorvino as Fanny Chamberlain.         

Special features of the DVD include an introduction  by  Ted
Turner  and  music  videos of songs on the soundtrack by Bob
Dylan  and  Mary  Fahl.   Also  included  on  the  DVD   are
commentaries by Maxwell, James "Bud" Robertson Jr.  (history
professor, Virginia Tech) and Col.  Keith Gibson  (Executive
Director, VMI Museum).                                      

Also available from Warner Home Video is Ken Burns' landmark
documentary   "The   Civil   War".    Long   available    on
videocassette,  the nine-episode series is now being offered
on DVD as well.  Among the extra features  included  on  the
DVD  are biographies of key figures of the war, an interview
with historian Shelby Foote and five hours of commentary  by
Burns.                                                      



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:           

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