First Vice President:                   Rob Monroe, Editor       
Richard Forrester                     2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Second Vice President:                  Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
Shep Parsons                          rmonroe@richmond.com   
September 2004 PROGRAM

Kent Masterson Brown,

"The Retreat from Gettysburg" 

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 14, 2004, 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.

Kent Masterson  Brown  graduated  with  honors  from  Centre
College in his native Kentucky and received his juris doctor
degree from Washington and Lee.  He was  creator  and  first
editor  of  The  Civil  War magazine and is a trustee of the
Museum  of  the  Confederacy.   Mr.   Brown  was  the  first
chairman  of  both the Perryville Battlefield Commission and
the Gettysburg National Military Park  Advisory  Commission.
He has written numerous articles for history journals and is
the author of several books including Cushing of Gettysburg:
The  Story of a Union Artillery Commander.  His latest book,
Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics and the Pennsylvania
Campaign, is expected to be on the shelves in February 2005.

Mr.   Brown  will  discuss  foraging  as the primary purpose
behind Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania.  The massive scale of
this foraging will be fully described.  How Lee successfully
withdrew his defeated army and its extensive  quartermaster,
subsistence,  ordinance and ambulance trains from Gettysburg
back to Virginia will be thoroughly  and  closely  examined.
The  discussion will reveal why Gen.  George Meade could not
bring his Army of the Potomac into a  position  to  confront
Lee's  army,  much  less  successfully  assault it.  Meade's
serious logistical problems,  caused  in  large  measure  by
Lee's  actions  taken  early  in  the  campaign,  and  Lee's
deliberate pace of retreat and his  utilization  of  terrain
and even the inclement weather will be shown to be critical.
Lee  not  only  brought  back  his  army  intact,  but  also
quartermaster,  subsistence,  ordinance and ambulance trains
in excess of 57 miles.  Thousands of horses, mules,  cattle,
sheep  and  hogs were seized north of the Potomac.  Although
the Battle of Gettysburg was a tactical defeat for Lee,  the
campaign  was,  in part, a success.  For the first time, the
Army of Northern Virginia had fodder  and  fresh  meat  that
would last well into the ensuing season.                    


SEPTEMBER EVENTS


Robertson to Lecture on Civil War Centennial

"It would be ironic, not to say tragic,  coincidence,"  said
historian  C.  Vann Woodward in 1960 on the eve of the Civil
War Centennial, "if the celebration of the anniversary  took
place  in  the  midst  of  a  crisis  reminiscent of the one
celebrated." Indeed, as 34 states, including those  formerly
engaged   in   the   Civil  War,  commemorated  the  pivotal
19th-century event with research  and  publication  projects
covering  every  aspect  of  the  war,  the  Freedom  Riders
campaigned for racial equality in 1961, civil rights  leader
Medgar  Evers  was  slain in 1963, and the 1964 Civil Rights
Act forever altered the course of African-American  life  in
the U.S.                                                    

It is against this background that historian James I.  "Bud"
Robertson Jr.  will  discuss  his  experience  as  executive
director  of  the  U.S.   Civil War Centennial Commission at
7:30pm  Thursday,  September  23,  at  the   University   of
Richmond's  Keller  Hall.   Sponsored  by  The Museum of the
Confederacy  and  the   University   of   Richmond   History
Department,  Robertson's  talk is the ninth annual Elizabeth
Roller Bottimore  Lecture  funded  by  the  Roller-Bottimore
Foundation.   As  federal  legislation  on  the  forthcoming
sesquicentennial  observation  of  The  Civil   War   (150th
anniversary  in  2011)  is already in the works, Robertson's
timely "Reflections on the Civil War Centennial" promises to
be thought-provoking.                                       

Dr.   Robertson is Alumni Distinguished Professor of History
at Virginia Tech and the author of ten books, including  the
prize-winning  Stonewall  Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The
Legend (1997).  He also wrote a biography of A.P.   Hill,  a
history  of  the Stonewall Brigade, and a series of books on
the  war  for  young  readers.   The  great-grandson  of   a
Confederate   soldier   who  survived  Pickett's  Charge  at
Gettysburg,  Robertson  is   a   frequent   commentator   on
nationally   broadcast   television   and  radio  Civil  War
programs.  Fifty years ago, when Robertson was editor of the
journal  Civil War History and a professor of history at the
University  of  Iowa,  his  friend,  historian  Richard   B.
Harwell,  encouraged  Robertson  to  accept  the position as
executive  director  of  the  U.S.   Civil  War   Centennial
Commission.   The  post  took  the  young Danville native to
Washington, where he met Presidents  John  F.   Kennedy  and
Lyndon  B.   Johnson  and where he worked closely with other
prominent  public  officials  and   historians.    Robertson
enjoyed  a  unique  insider  perspective of one of America's
largest public history commemorations -- a perspective  that
he will share in his lecture.                               

In  a  surprising  turn of the spotlight on the recorders of
history, the Civil War Centennial itself is now the  subject
of  study,  especially  given the new scholarly focus on how
memory of public events is constructed and perpetuated.  The
Centennial,   whose   primary  objective  was  to  encourage
Americans to  study  the  Civil  War,  had  its  dark  days.
Robertson  will  discuss  the  "bumpy"  fashion in which the
Centennial got underway and President Kennedy's  purging  of
the   first   Commission   following  several  controversial
incidents, including the  clash  over  Southern  segregation
laws  during  the  Fort  Sumter  observation.  Robertson has
said, "My job, in a real sense, was to keep the  peace.   By
late 1961, real friction had developed between some Northern
and Southern state commissions.  I spent most  of  my  first
year in Washington traveling everywhere to mend fences." Yet
Robertson is convinced  that  the  Centennial  went  far  in
healing  national  wounds,  and  in  that  context  he  will
consider  the  role  and  the  challenges  of  the  upcoming
sesquicentennial commemoration.                             

Dr.   Robertson's  talk  is free and open to the public, but
seating  is  limited  and  reservations  are  required.   To
reserve  a  seat call The Museum of the Confederacy at (804)
649-1861, ext.  10.                                         


University of Richmond Offers Course on Civil War in Virginia

The University of Richmond's School  of  Continuing  Studies
will  offer  a  course  titled  "Civil War in Virginia - The
War's Last Year, 1864-1865." Meeting 7:00 -  9:00pm  on  the
last four Monday nights in November, the course will discuss
the Siege of Petersburg, the 1864 campaign in the Shenandoah
Valley,  the desperate fighting in Southside Virginia in the
spring of 1865 that lead to the evacuation of Richmond  and,
finally,   Lee's   retreat   and  surrender  at  Appomattox.
Participants  will  also  take  a  Saturday  field  trip  to
Petersburg, Five Forks, and Appomattox on December 4, 2004. 

This  course  is  led  by  retired  Brigadier  General  Jack
Mountcastle, the  U.S.   Army's  former  Chief  of  Military
History  and  a RCWRT member.  The discussions will focus on
the soldiers and leaders who continued to  fight  on  during
this  last  year of the Civil War and on the effects the war
had on Virginia and on the families of the fighting men.  The
instructor   will   supply   additional  info  as  take-home
material.  The cost of the non-credit course is  $159.   For
details  call  University of Richmond's School of Continuing
Studies  at  (804)  289-8133  or  visit  their  website   at
www.richmond.edu.   Click  on  "Continuing Studies" and then
select the "Think Again" non-credit course catalog.         

Symposium to Focus on Confederate Gen. Joe Johnston

Pamplin Historical Park & the National Museum of  the  Civil
War  Soldier  will  hold  their  eighth  annual symposium on
October 15 - 17 in Petersburg.  This year's subject is  "The
Controversial Joe Johnston." Friday evening events include a
dessert reception and a lecture by Craig Symonds.   Speakers
on  Saturday  include  Symonds  (lecturing  on  Johnston  in
Virginia),  Terry  Winschel  (Johnston  and  the   Vicksburg
Campaign),  Richard  M.   McMurry  (Johnston and the Atlanta
Campaign) and Mark  Bradley  (Johnston  and  the  Battle  of
Bentonville).   Saturday lectures will be followed by a tour
of  Pamplin  Historical  Park   and   evening   dinner   and
entertainment.   There  will be a special guided bus tour of
the Bentonville Battlefield on Sunday.                      

The  symposium  will  be  held  at  the  Best   Western   in
Petersburg.   The  hotel  is  offering a special $59.95 room
rate for reservations made by September 15.   The  $195  per
person  symposium  registration fee includes lectures, tours
and meals.  Registration forms  will  be  available  at  the
September  14  RCWRT  meeting  or  you may call Pamplin Park
toll-free, 1-877-PAMPLIN.                                   

Seats Going Fast for Conference on 1864 Valley Campaign

About 30 seats  are  still  available  for  the  7th  Annual
Conference on the Art of Command in the Civil War being held
October 8 -  10  in  Middleburg.   Sponsored  by  the  Mosby
Heritage  Area Association, the conference will focus on the
1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.  For  more  information  on
the  conference, see last month's RCWRT newsletter, call the
association  at  (540)  687-6681  or  see   their   website,
www.mosbyheritagearea.org                                   

Mosby Exhibit at Manassas Museum

A new  Civil  War  exhibit,  "The  Legacy  of  Colonel  John
Singleton Mosby" will be open through the end of the year at
the Manassas Museum.  The exhibit features interesting facts
about  the  elusive "Gray Ghost" who led the 43 rd Battalion
of Partisan Rangers in Union-occupied Northern Virginia.  The
life  of  Mosby, his Partisan Rangers, and his contributions
to healing the wounds of  war  are  examined.   The  exhibit
focuses  on Mosby's Civil War exploits in the Manassas area,
Mosby Reunions and glimpses of his post-war life.           

Rare Civil War and Mosby artifacts, many never  seen  before
in  public, are displayed.  Military passes by Mosby hint at
the structure of his partisan group.  Among the features  of
the exhibit are O.W.  Beck's famous pastel portrait of Mosby
later in his life, Edwin H.  Stoughton's sword  captured  by
Mosby  at  the  Fairfax  Courthouse,  weapons carried by his
Rangers, and a set  of  documents  from  Mosby's  saddlebags
captured  in 1864.  The exhibit also contains original Mosby
letters with first-hand accounts of his life, engravings  of
Mosby  and  his  contemporaries  and one of the few existing
farewell addresses hand-written by Mosby to his  command  in
April 1865.                                                 

Operating  between 1862 and 1865 from a base in the Virginia
counties of Fauquier and Loudon that became know as "Mosby's
Confederacy,"  Colonel  John Singleton Mosby and his rangers
rode in raids against Union supply lines, railroad and wagon
trains,  outposts,  and  detachments.   The command provided
Robert  E.   Lee  with  valuable  intelligence  information,
seized  hundreds  of  thousands  of dollars worth of federal
material, and captured thousands of enemy troops.           

"This exhibit is a one of  a  kind,"  said  Melinda  Herzog,
Director  of  Historic Resources, "it's a rare chance to see
unique   items   from   private   collections   and   museum
collections."  The  Manassas  Museum is open Tuesday through
Sunday from 10:00am until 5:00pm.  Admission to  the  museum
is  $3  per person, with discounts for members, children and
groups.  For more information visit www.manassascity.org  or
call (703) 368-1873.                                        

RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2004

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:           

October newsletter			October 1  
November newsletter			October 29 
December newsletter			December 3 

Information may be emailed to rmonroe@richmond.com

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