The Chicago Civil War Round Table Monthly Meetings

David Dixon on "The American Civil War: A Radical, International Revolution"

For more info: WWW.ChicagoCWRT.org

On October 8th historian David Dixon will talk about an aspect of the Civil War not often discussed--”the role of foreign, German transplants”--based on the life of one of those immigrants, August Willich. Dixon's latest book, Radical Warrior: August Willich's Journey from German Revolutionary to Union General (on which this talk is based) is the biography of a Prussian army officer who renounced his nobility and joined in the failed European revolutions of 1848. He emigrated to America, edited a daily labor newspaper in Cincinnati, and became one of the most accomplished generals in the Union Army. This story sheds new light on the contributions of 200,000 German-Americans who fought for the Union in the Civil War. In an age of global social, economic, and political upheaval, transatlantic radicals helped affect America's second great revolution. For many recent immigrants, the nature and implications of that revolution turned not on Lincoln's relatively conservative goal of maintaining the national Union, but on issues of social justice, including slavery, free labor, and popular self-government. The Civil War was not simply a war to end sectional divides, but to restore the soul of the nation, revive the hopes of democrats worldwide, and defend human rights. David Dixon earned his M.A. in history from the University of Massachusetts in 2003. His first book, The Lost Gettysburg Address, told the unusual life story of Texas  slaveholder Charles Anderson, whose speech followed Lincoln's at Gettysburg, but was never published. It turned up 140 years later in a cardboard box in Wyoming. David has presented to more than sixty Civil War Round Tables from coast to coast. He hosts B-List History, a website that features obscure characters and their compelling stories at www.davidtdixon.com. David's latest book, published by the University of Tennessee Press, is the biography of German revolutionary and Union General August Willich. His current project is a biography that highlights the role of emotions in Southern allegiance in the Civil War. 

Eric Wittenberg on "Seceding from Secession: The Creation of West Virginia"

for more info: WWW.ChicagoCWRT.org

“West Virginia was the child of the storm," concluded early Mountaineer historian and Civil War veteran, Maj. Theodore F. Lang. The northwestern third of the Commonwealth of Virginia finally broke away in 1863 to form the Union's 35th state. In his new book, Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia, author Eric J. Wittenberg chronicles those events in an unprecedented study of the social, legal, military, and political factors that converged to bring about the birth of West Virginia. President Abraham Lincoln, an astute lawyer in his own right, played a critical role in birthing the new state. The book is an indispensable source for everyone interested in understanding the convergence of military, political, social, and legal events that brought about the birth of the state of West Virginia Eric J. Wittenberg is an award-winning historian, blogger, speaker, and tour guide. His specialty is Civil War cavalry operations, and much of his work has focused on the Gettysburg Campaign. He is the author of 18 published books on the Civil War and more than three dozen articles that have appeared in various national magazines. He is also deeply involved in battlefield preservation work and often assists the Civil War Trust with its efforts, and is also a member of the Governor of Ohio's Advisory Commission on the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. He is a native of southeastern Pennsylvania and was educated at Dickinson College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is an attorney in private practice. He and his wife Susan and their three golden retrievers reside in Columbus, Ohio. 

A Wilson Green on"We Have Done all that is Possible and Must be Resigned: The First Petersburg Offensive"

For more information: WWW.ChicagoCWRT.org

The epic contest between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee wound its way from the Rapidan River to Cold Harbor in May and early June 1864. Stymied in his effort to either destroy Lee's army or capture Richmond, Grant decided on a bold move. He would shift George Meade's Army of the Potomac and elements of Benjamin Butler's Army of the James across the James River to target Petersburg, the Confederate capital's logistical and transportation hub. Grant executed these challenging logistics brilliantly, in effect freezing most of Lee's forces north of the James while negotiating an uncontested crossing of the mighty James. By dawn of June 15, the Federals were poised to overrun the vastly outnumbered Confederates around Petersburg commanded by P.G.T. Beauregard. Four days later, after fighting that claimed some 15,000 casualties, Beauregard still held Petersburg and the Army of Northern Virginia dug in to defend the city for the next nine months.

Michael Hardy on "General Lee's Immortals: The Lane-Branch Brigade"

For more information: WWW.CWRTChicago.com

Over the course of four years of exemplary service, the North Carolina brigade commanded first by Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, and then by James H. Lane, fought on the most storied fields of the war. Some of the most well-known Civil War engagements, like Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, saw the Branch-Lane Brigade in the forefront of battle. The brigade's career includes spectacular battle honors and dazzling successes, such as saving the entire Army of Northern Virginia twice at Spotsylvania Court House. Yet, there were also devastating losses and costly mistakes, most notably, the mortal wounding of the legendary Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville. The story of this brigade is one marked by glory and tragedy, from the first days of the war to the lingering effects long after Appomattox. General Lee's Immortals: The Battles and Campaigns of the Branch-Lane brigade tells this remarkable story.

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.

Date: March 12, 2021

Speaker: Greg Biggs

Topic: The Logistics of William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign

- Chicago Civil War Round Table Monthly Meeting

The Nevins Freeman Address Greg Biggs on The Question Was One of Supplies: The Logistics of William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. 

For More Info: WWW.CWRTChicago.com 

The French military master Napoleon is said to have observed, "An Army Travels on Its Stomach." More modern military experts observe: "Amateurs talk strategy and Tactics. Professionals Talk Logistics." On March 12th Greg Biggs will be discussing the difficulties that General William T. Sherman encountered in supplying his troops during the Atlanta campaign. No army in history moved without a secure line of supplies especially if it moved into enemy territory. If an army got cut off from its supplies then calamity usually followed often ending in defeat and/or destruction. When William T. Sherman set his sights on Atlanta he prepared for the supplying of his army in a manner that surpassed every other Civil War general. Rebuilding railroads and confiscating locomotives and cars to haul supplies, Sherman set a daily goal for shipments to his forward base in Chattanooga. Ruthless in making sure that only supplies got on the cars, Sherman also had to worry about protecting the line of rails that ran back to Louisville, Kentucky from Confederate raiders. 

Building on a system begun by William S. Rosecrans, Sherman's engineers built forts and blockhouses and prepared pre-fabricated trestles for replacing those brought down by Confederate raiders. While his preparations were masterful and thorough, they were not without some flaws. This program will examine the nuts and bolts of these logistics and cover the errors that were also made. In the end, his supply line performed as expected and Atlanta was captured. This set the stage for two more campaigns that Sherman would undertake before the war ended in April 1865. 

Greg has been a student of military history from the Spartans through modern times for over 45 years. His Civil War articles have been published in Blue & Gray magazine, Civil War Regiments journal, North-South Trader, Citizen's Companion and local publications. Greg is also a Civil War flags historian and has consulted with many museums and authors and has presented flags programs to the Museum of the Confederacy and the National Civil War Museum. Greg has lectured across the country on Civil War topics primarily on flags and the Western Theater as well as the Revolutionary War. Greg leads tours of the Fort Donelson Campaign, the Tullahoma Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign and Where The River Campaigns Began: Cairo, IL to Columbus/Belmont, KY for Civil War groups, individuals and U.S. Army Staff Rides. He is the president of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable and an officer of the Nashville CWRT. A good friend of our CWRT, Greg last spoke here in 2016.

Date: February 12, 2021

Speaker: Leslie Goddard

Topic: Leslie Goddard Portrays Clara Barton

- Chicago Civil War Round Table Monthly Meeting

History will come alive in the talented hands of historian Leslie Goddard, who will introduce Barton, the first woman to serve as a nurse on the front lines of a battlefield, as a tireless worker who faced remarkable challenges in her quest to care for wounded soldiers. Learn about the medical conditions during the American Civil War and about the courage required for a woman who dared to brave the war's front lines.

Leslie Goddard, Ph.D., is an award-winning actress and scholar who has been portraying famous women and presenting history lectures for nearly 20 years. Her portrayals, including Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Queen Elizabeth II, and Louisa May Alcott, have been seen by audiences in 18 states. She holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University specializing in U.S. history and American Studies, as well as master's degrees in both theater and museum studies. A former museum director, she is the author of two books on Chicago history and currently works full-time as a historical interpreter, author, and public speaker. Leslie is past Secretary of the Chicago CWRT.

Date: April 12, 2005

Speaker: Terry Winschel

Topic: Union Victory at Vicksburg: Crucial to the outcome of the war

- Chicago Civil War Round Table Monthly Meeting

Dr. Jennifer M. Murray is a military historian, with a specialization in the American Civil War, in the Department of History at Oklahoma State University. Murray's most recent book publication is "On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933-2013," published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2014. Murray is also the author of "The Civil War Begins," published by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History in 2012. She is currently working on a full-length biography of George Gordon Meade, tentatively titled "Meade at War: George Gordon Meade and the Army of the Potomac."  Murray's essay on Meade in "Upon the Fields of Battle: Essays on the Military History of America's Civil War," explores the leadership decisions of Army of the Potomac in the final days of the Gettysburg Campaign. Specifically, Prof. Murray places President Abraham Lincoln's expectations of a decisive victory by Meade over Robert E. Lee's Confederate army within the broader context of military history and argues that battles of annihilation are incredibly rare and thus Lincoln and northern citizens' expectations misplaced.  Consequently, General Meade's leadership during the pursuit from Gettysburg, culminating in the actions at Falling Waters, must be understood within the broader contours of the feasibility of annihilating a citizen-soldier army and the rarity of coupling a battlefield victory with an aggressive pursuit of the enemy forces.  Prof. Murray's previous experiences include working as a historian for the Department of Defense in the Pentagon for a year before she took a job teaching history at UVa-Wise. Murray worked as a seasonal interpretive park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for nine summers (2002-2010). She received her Ph.D. from Auburn University in 2010.

David Powell on Union Command Failure in the Shenandoah Valley  David Powell's latest book, Union Command Failure in the Shenandoah, provides a fresh perspective on the May 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign. By shifting attention away from the VMI cadets to the Union military's strategic goals and command structure, Powell adds nuance and depth to a well-studied campaign. (h/t CivilWarMonitor)  The battle of New Market enjoys a status in that belies its small scale. This is largely due to the drama surrounding the participation of the Virginia Military Institute cadets. While the cadets are celebrated for their actions, historians often cast Union General Franz Sigel as an incompetent buffoon who missed a golden opportunity to sweep Confederate forces from the Shenandoah Valley in the days leading up to the battle. As a 1983 graduate of VMI, David A. Powell knows the story of the cadet's actions at New Market very well. Rather than focusing on this well-covered subject, however, Powell's study brings Franz Sigel's role in the campaign to the forefront, placing his actions and decisions in the broader context of Union grand strategy and command structure.  Powell's analysis allows for a greater appreciation of the challenges Sigel faced during the campaign, including Grant's unrealistic timetable for the invasion and the failure of other Union forces to cooperate with Sigel, but he does not exonerate the general. Sigel's reliance on Col. Augustus Moor and Maj. Gen. Julius Stahel, who ignored Sigel's orders to pull back from New Market on the morning of May 15, suggests his questionable judgment. His hodgepodge assigning of units--ignoring the established chain of command--led to confusion on the battlefield. Powell observes that by ordering a counter-charge with shaky, inexperienced troops at a key point during the battle of New Market, Sigel had lost sight of the broader strategic goal of avoiding a catastrophic loss to keep Confederate troops occupied on the field and away from Gen. George Crook's planned advance on Staunton.  Chicago-area resident Dave Powell has published 8 works on the Civil War, including volumes on the Chickamauga and Tullahoma Campaigns, and his latest, Union Command Failure in the Shenandoah.