Nevins-Freeman Address: Tom Clemens on General Joseph K. F. Mansfield 

For More Info: www.ChicagoCWRT.org  

The Chicago Civil War Round Table's Nevins-Freeman Award is intended to honor those who advance Civil War scholarship and the Round Table movement. Past winners have included Bruce Catton, Gary Gallagher, Bud Robertson and James McPherson. This year we honor Tom Clemens, a man who through his writings and battlefield tours has done so much to illuminate the Antietam Campaign,  On October 12th Tom Clemens' Nevins-Freeman address will explore General Joseph K. F. Mansfield's life, including his all-too-brief (2 days) tenure as commander of the XII Corps. What most Civil War enthusiasts know about Joseph K. F. Mansfield, if they know anything at all, is that he was a Union corps commander who was killed at Antietam. While that is true, it was only the end of his 40 plus years of service in the U.S. Army. Often dismissed as a non-combatant through most of his career, he actually was involved in several vital aspects in the early part of the Civil War. The facts are that he was he was anything but a "staff puke," as Ed Bearss once dismissed him on a tour not many years ago.  Dr. Thomas G. Clemens received his Doctorate in History Education from George Mason University, where he studied under noted Civil War historian Dr. Joseph L. Harsh. After a 34 year career at Hagerstown Community College, he retired as Professor Emeritus in 2012. He edited and annotated General Ezra A. Carman's manuscript, the Maryland Campaign of September 1862, in addition to numerous articles and several monographs, including one on Gen. Joseph K. F. Mansfield. Tom is a founding member and current president of Save Historic Antietam Foundation Inc., a non-profit historic preservation organization and an NPS-certified Antietam Battlefield Guide.