April 11, 2021

April 2021 CWRT Meeting - Ron Kirkwood on "Too Much for Human Endurance:" The Spangler Farm Hospitals at Gettysburg

1 hour 17 minutes

Date: April 9, 2021

Speaker: Ron Kirkwood

Topic: Too Much for Human Endurance:" The Spangler Farm Hospitals at Gettysburg

- Chicago Civil War Round Table Monthly Meeting

For More Info: WWW.CWRTChicago.com

The bloodstains are gone, but the worn floorboards remain. The doctors, nurses, and patients who toiled and suffered and ached for home at the Army of the Potomac's XI Corps hospital at the George Spangler Farm in Gettysburg have long since departed. Happily, though, their stories remain, and noted journalist and George Spangler Farm expert Ronald D. Kirkwood brings these people and their experiences to life in "Too Much for Human Endurance": The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg.

Using a wealth of firsthand accounts, Kirkwood reveals the untold stories of the George Spangler family; its 166-acre farm; the ambulance workers, surgeons and nurses who labored to save lives; and the injured who suffered and died at the farm.

Kirkwood contends that logistically the George Spangler farm was the most important farm in the Battle of Gettysburg. His book presents newly-found information about Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead's time at Spangler, the Granite Schoolhouse hospital, the Spanglers, the Artillery Reserve and stories emerging from the two hospitals on-site.

Now retired, Ron Kirkwood had a 40-year journalism career as an editor and writer, including work for several local newspapers. He has served as a Gettysburg Foundation guide at The George Spangler Farm Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013.

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