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

September 2001 PROGRAM

Dr. Richard M. McMurry

"Thoughts on the Atlanta Campaign"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 11, 2001, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.)

Dr.  Richard M.  McMurry is an independent scholar currently
living  in Roanoke, Virginia.  He is a native of Georgia and
received his bachelor's degree from  the  Virginia  Military
Institute.  McMurry earned a Ph.D.  in American history from
Emory University, where he studied under the  late  Bell  I.
Wiley.  He has taught at North Carolina State University and
Valdosta State University in Georgia.  McMurry is the author
of  a  number of books.  In Two Great Rebel Armies: An Essay
in Confederate Military  History  (Chapel  Hill,  1989),  he
compared  and  contrasted  the Army of Northern Virginia and
the Army of Tennessee.  McMurry wrote  a  biography  of  the
youngest full general in the Confederacy, John Bell Hood and
the War for Southern Independence (Lincoln, Neb., 1992).  He
edited  Footprints  of a Regiment: A Recollection of the 1st
Georgia Regulars, 1861-1865 (Atlanta, Ga., 1992) and  did  a
study  of  VMI graduates, Virginia Military Institute Alumni
in the Civil  War:  In  Bello  Praesidium  (Lynchburg,  Va.,
1999).   His  most recent book was Atlanta 1864: Last Chance
for the  Confederacy  (Lincoln,  Neb.,  2000)  in  which  he
examined  that  campaign's  major role in deciding the war's
outcome.  The Austin, Texas, Civil War Round Table  recently
awarded McMurry their sixth annual Daniel M.  and Marilyn W.
Laney Book Prize  for  this  book.   He  is  the  author  of
numerous  articles  in  Civil War journals and magazines and
has contributed essays to compilations such as  Encyclopedia
of Confederate History.                                     

In  his  presentation,  McMurry will give an overview of the
Atlanta Campaign so that there will be a clear understanding
of  its  overall  framework.   He  will  then  give some new
perspectives on those operations and challenge  some  common
assumptions about them.                                     


Review of the August Program



Christopher L.  Kolakowski  presented  an  informative  talk
titled  "Stars  and  Stripes on Marye's Heights." The Second
Battle of Fredericksburg, as it is  sometimes  known,  found
two  generals  exercising  independent command for the first
time.  Major General John Sedgwick, head of the Sixth  Corps
of  the  Army  of  the Potomac, faced Major General Jubal A.
Early, recently given a division of  the  Army  of  Northern
Virginia.                                                   

When Major General Joseph Hooker began his flanking movement
against General Robert E.  Lee's army, he left  Sedgwick  at
Fredericksburg  with  about 50,000 of his own men and troops
from  two  other  corps.   Sedgwick   received   orders   to
demonstrate  against  the Confederates on his front and hold
their attention while Hooker took  some  70,000  toward  the
Confederate rear.  The Federals threw pontoon bridges across
the Rappahannock River and made preparations as if they were
going  to assault the heights as their army had the previous
December.                                                   

Lee learned that Hooker had marched around his flank and had
taken  up  a  position  at  Chancellorsville.  He decided to
divide his army, taking most of it to  face  Hooker.   Early
remained  behind  with  about  five  brigades and 56 cannon.
Sedgwick's operations suffered  from  a  communications  lag
from  Hooker's  headquarters.  It took about three hours for
messages to travel the twenty miles that separated  the  two
parts  of  the  Union army.  Finally, on the night of May 2,
1863, the Sixth Corps  began  its  advance  against  Early's
Confederates.                                               

On  the  following  morning  about  4:30, the Federal attack
began.  The small force of Southern troops in Fredericksburg
had  to retreat.  Union soldiers looted what little was left
in the town as they advanced through it.  Brigadier  General
William Barksdale's Mississippians occupied the famous stone
wall atop Marye's Heights, the focus of Sedgwick's  assault.
The  terrain  posed  a  problem  for the Federals-a canal or
ditch that acted as a moat restricted their movements.  They
stumbled through ground where the Union dead had been buried
in December and found that  many  bodies  had  come  to  the
surface  as  the  ground  settled.   Brigadier General Frank
Wheaton's brigade attacked but was repulsed with a  loss  of
about 350 men.                                              

Next,  portions  of Brigadier General John Newton's division
cooperated with  men  of  Brigadier  General  John  Gibbon's
division  of the First Corps and attempted a pincer movement
to try to catch Marye's Heights from behind.  Artillery fire
from  the  famed Washington Artillery of New Orleans stymied
this   assault.    Here   controversy    intervened.     The
Confederates  claimed  that  the  Federals  raised a flag of
truce, while the Union soldiers stated  that  there  was  no
such  flag.   During  the  lull, Union officers were able to
study  the  Confederate  line  along  Marye's  Heights   and
discover just how weak it was.                              

Sedgwick then ordered forward a new assault about 11 a.m.  He
told the men to go in  with  their  bayonets  fixed  and  to
overwhelm  the Southern defenders.  The Federals were not to
fire their weapons and were not to stop until told to do so.
Things  went wrong from the start.  Finally, however, men of
Brigadier General Albion Howe's division surged  forward  on
their  own  initiative  and  went over the stone wall.  They
captured several Confederate cannon, hundreds of  prisoners,
and at least one battle flag.                               

With  this  success,  Sedgwick  advanced  toward the rear of
Lee's army  but  found  himself  faced  with  troops  rushed
against  him  directly  under  Lee's  command.  Sedgwick was
almost surrounded by the  Confederates  and  was  forced  to
retreat back across the Rappahannock.                       


Announcements


Round Table Raffle

The item for this month's raffle is an original Virginia Seal
uniform button valued at $100.00.


Museum of the Confederacy Lecture

The Museum of the Confederacy announces the  2001  Elizabeth
Roller-Bottimore  Annual  Lecture: "Johnny Reb and GI Joe: A
Soldier-Historian's Reflections on Two Wars,"  on  Thursday,
September  13,  at  7:30  p.m.   The lecture will be held at
Perkinson Recital Hall, University of Richmond and  is  free
to the public.  Dr.  Charles P.  Roland, a decorated veteran
of  the  Ardennes  Campaign,  will  reflect   on   his   own
experiences in World War II as a framework for understanding
the realities of  soldiering  during  the  Civil  War.   Dr.
Roland will sign books at a reception following the lecture.
For more information, call (804) 649-1861.                  

A widely published historian, scholar and educator, some  of
Dr.   Roland's works include Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier
of Three Republics and An American Illiad: The Story of  the
Civil  War.  Roland has served as instructor of history in a
variety of capacities at a number of  leading  institutions,
including  Louisiana  State  University,  Tulane University,
United States Military Institute and Army War  College,  and
United  States  Military  Academy.  He has held positions in
many professional organizations, including president of both
the  Louisiana and the Southern Historical Associations.  He
is currently professor emeritus of history at the University
of  Kentucky  and  regularly speaks to Civil War roundtables
and World War II veterans' organizations.                   


University of Richmond Class

The University of  Richmond  School  of  Continuing  Studies
announces a class titled "Civil War Virginia: The War's Last
Year, 1864-1865." General Grant directed George G.  Meade to
cross  his battered Army of the Potomac to the south side of
the James in June 1864.  After failing to capture Petersburg
by  assault,  the  Federals  settled  into brutal siege that
would  characterize  the  winter  war.   In  the  Shenandoah
Valley,  Union  forces  under  the  command of Phil Sheridan
struck hard at Confederates led by Jubal Early and  captured
the   Valley.    The  final  desperate  chapter  opens  with
disastrous losses  by  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  in
Southside  Virginia  that  led, finally, to Appomattox.  The
class will use  a  variety  of  materials  supplied  by  the
instructor  in  support of the four sessions that review the
battles around Petersburg,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and
Southside  Virginia,  and  the  retreat  to  Appomattox.   A
one-day Saturday field trip from  Petersburg  to  Appomattox
will  be  led  by  the instructor on a date agreeable to the
majority of the class.  One text is recommended for  student
purchase:  A  Stillness  at  Appomattox ($14.95).  The class
will run for four weeks, from 7:00-9:00 p.  m.   on  Mondays
from  October  8-29.   The fee is $82.00 plus textbook.  Dr.
John W.  Mountcastle,  retired  Brigadier  General,  U.   S.
Army,   will   be   the  instructor.   For  information  and
enrollment form call: The School of  Continuing  Studies  at
804-289-8133.                                               


Fall Field Trip
"Gettysburg, July 2, 1863: Longstreet's Assault"

Brag Bowling has announced that the Roundtable's Fall  field
trip  will  be  to  the  Gettysburg  National Battlefield on
October  20.   Wayne  Motts,  who  has   lectured   at   our
Roundtable,  will be the tour guide.  The focus of the field
trip will be July 2, 1863.  Wayne is an expert on the events
of that day.  Among the sites to be visited are Little Round
Top and Big Round Top, Devil's Den, the Wheatfield, and  the
Peach Orchard.                                              

We  are  tentatively  planning  to  eat  lunch and visit the
Daniel Lady Farm, which is featured in the current Civil War
News.  Dr.  Walter Powell, Historic Preservation Officer for
the Borough of Gettysburg, will discuss the events  at  this
historic site and the importance of its being preserved.    

Costs  for  the  tour  will  be $25 per person.  It would be
great if this were less, but rising gas costs  have  made  a
tour  of  this distance more expensive.  The bus will depart
from the shopping center parking lot at the corner of  Brook
Road  and  Parham at 6:30 a.  m.  Return will be around 6:30
p.  m.  that evening.  Please bring a lunch and drinks.     

Brag wishes to remind everyone that if you  want  to  go  on
this  trip, please get your money to him ASAP.  There were a
number of Roundtable members who missed out on our  trip  to
Manassas  with John Hennessy last spring because they waited
until the last minute to make their reservation.   Don't  do
it   again.    Please   make   your  reservation  with  Brag
personally, or mail it to him at his home-Brag Bowling, 3019
Kensington Avenue, Richmond, VA 23221.                      


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