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Unless otherwise indicated:

  • Programs begin at 10:30AM in the Great Hall of the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse, unless noted otherwise in the individual listings below
  • Programs are in person
  • IF NOT IN PERSON, THE LISTING WILL INDICATE “VIA ZOOM”
  • Jan 24 – Max Hokit  – Update on How the Wilderness Crossings Project Affects Local Historic Sites – Max Hokit of the American Battlefield Trust will present an update of the continuing concerns about the plans for the Wilderness Crossing project. He will also give an update on progress his organization is making in preserving historic sites in our area.
  • Feb 28 – Tim Talbott: “Making a More Perfect Union”– The soldiers who made up the United States Colored Troops regiments that fought at the Battle of New Market Heights came from both free and enslaved backgrounds, hailed from many different states, and held a diverse array of occupations before enlisting. Those soldiers who were wounded or died in the battle left a lasting legacy of service and sacrifice to the United States, while others who survived went on to lead amazing lives after the Civil War. In his presentation “Making a More Perfect Union,” historian Tim Talbott will share the life stories of a number of these men, including some of the 14 Black soldiers who received the Medal of Honor for their courageous actions during the Battle of New Market Heights.
  • Mar 28 – Scott Boyd: “The Ongoing Mysteries of the Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley” – 161 years ago, the wooden steam sloop USS Housatonic, on blockade duty at the mouth of Charleston harbor, mysteriously sank following a large explosion near her stern on the evening of February 17, 1864. This turned out to be the first warship lost in action due to a submarine, in this case, the Confederate H. L. Hunley. The Hunley never returned to base, marking the start of a decades-long search for the now-famous boat. Finally located in 1995, and recovered intact in 2000, the 40-foot Hunley has been undergoing painstaking conservation and study ever since, slowly yielding some of her secrets… but not all. The basic question of why she did not return to base after the successful attack on the Housatonic remains unanswered, despite several interesting theories proposed to explain it. This presentation will discuss the latest findings
  • Apr 15 – Jane Conner, “Alfred Ward” Alfred Waud, artist and illustrator, was assigned to the Army of the Potomac to capture events of the American Civil War. His drawings and sketches were placed in newspapers throughout the nation. 
  • May 23 – Annual Dinner,
  • Jun 20 – Beth Parnicza, “Going Back: Returning to Fields of Glory” – In the days and years following the end of the Civil War, veterans returned to visit and walk the grounds of our four local battlefields for many reasons. Some sought to pay tribute to fallen friends, while others revisited sites of their own wounding. Almost all worked to create their own meanings from the sites they revisited. What called them back, and what can we learn by examining their visits?
  • Jul 25 – John Roos, “Autumn1863: Grant, Meade, and The Decision That Changed The Civil War” – Scholars have studied Ulysses S. Grant’s promotion to Lieutenant General. Grant’s promotion has not been studied concerning events in the autumn of 1863. Grant led elements of three different armies in and around the city of Chattanooga. During the same period, General George Meade was engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with General Robert E. Lee in Virginia. Meade performed admirably during those autumn months and continuously outmaneuvered or defeated Lee in battle. It was Grant’s results at Chattanooga, set against Meade’s inconsequential results in Virginia that led President Lincoln to promote Grant to General-in-chief of all Union armies.

  • Aug 22 –
  • Sep 26 –
  • Oct 24 – John Vagnetti – Display of Civil War Era Weaponry
  • Nov 21 –
  • Dec – NO MEETING
  • Jan 26 –Kevin Pawlak, “The Heaviest Blow Yet Given the Confederacy: The Emancipation Proclamation changes the Civil War” – President Abraham Lincoln used the Federal army’s halting of Robert E. Lee’s army invasion of the North at Antietam to announce his unilateral “Emancipation Proclamation” as of January 1, 1863. Could it change the war, even though Congress had not voted on it? How could it create chaos for the Confederacy? Come hear author and historian Kevin Pawlak discuss his findings on it. Pawlak is a licensed Antietam Battlefield Guide and a regular contributor to the Emerging Civil War blog. He co-authored a book in the Emerging Civil War series and is featured in nine videos in the C-SPAN video library.RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • Feb 23 –  Charles Brewer,“A Demographic Profile: US Colored Troops at the Battle of the Wilderness” – United States Colored Troops joined the Army of the Potomac for the first time during Grant’s Overland Campaign, which started right here with the Battle of the Wilderness in early May 1864. This talk will attempt to give an overview of these USCT troops: ages; birthplaces; places of enlistment; occupations upon enlistment; etc. In addition, a few relevant stories will be shared. RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • Mar 22 – Gene Schmiel, “Civil War Trailblazers and Troublemakers” –War has strange bedfellows.  It often brings forth the best and the worst in a society: the brave and the cowardly; the patriots and the traitors; the humanitarians and the exploiters; the leaders and those who fail at leadership; and most definitely the trailblazers and the troublemakers.  The Civil War was no exception. In fact, it had more than its share of trailblazers and troublemakers, probably because it was so unexpected, so stressful, and so transformative of American society.  Among those to be discussed in this program, some well known and some not so much, are Thaddeus Lowe and his observation balloons; Jonathan Letterman, a pioneer in modern medicine; Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad; Montgomery Meigs, the greatest unsung hero; Thomas Nast and the power of the press; Tennessee guerrillas Champ Ferguson and Tinker Dave Beatty, and many others. RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • Apr 19 – John Hennessy, “Fredericksburg, Aftermath” – Retired NPS Historian John Hennessy looks at the monumental task of caring for the wounded and dead after the Battle of Fredericksburg––the realities of being wounded and treated in makeshift hospitals in town, the ordeal of medical personnel, the evacuation of the wounded, and generally the state of medical care in the Union army by late 1862.RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • May 3 – Annual Dinner, 160th Anniversary, Battle of the Wilderness Speaker: John Michael Priest – S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, foretold of the horrors of World War I replete with trench warfare, prearranged fields of fire, massive and costly charges known as “forlorn hopes.” I write about battles from the perspectives of the ranks. The Wilderness, like all battles, scarred the minds of the men who fought them with indelible Dantean nightmares, many of which we will never learn about. War is personal. It is something which ages the participants beyond their years. Memories of the Wilderness offers a kaleidoscopic and chaotic view into the minds of the men who endured it. Individuals like Maj. Thomas Hyde (7th Maine) and Capt. Z. Boylston Adams (56th Massachusetts) left behind accounts of very close encounters with death. Brigadier General Joseph Bartlett, literally had the “ride of his life” in Saunders Field. General James Longstreet experienced the oxymoronic “friendly fire” and lived to write about it. Private John King (25th Virginia) chose common sense over heroics, which saved his life. Capt. John F. E. Plogsted (49th New York) mistakenly leaned against the wrong tree. Their stories and the others included in this presentation reconstruct the horrendous inhumane two day engagement where time stopped and minutes seemed like hours. Few monument stud the battlefield. For the survivors the ground itself and the surviving earthworks are the cenotaphs for those who never left “Virginia’s bloody soil.”RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • Jun 28 – Bob Epp, “Parker, Virginia: Mystery and Intrigue” Throughout history, places have come and gone. Their origin is often easy to identify, but their demise is not. Parker, Virginia is one of those places. Pre-Civil War literature initially identifies it in relation to a cart path that originated along the Germanna Plank Road, passed through the Ellwood fields and woods, and terminated on the Orange Plank Road. A store, owned ostensibly by a Parker family was reported to be located at the latter terminus, hence the Parker Store Road. This presentation will delve into the Parker family, the reason for store’s existence and the Civil War factors that contributed to its passing from the local scene. RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • Jul 26 – Shannon Doherty, Historic Germanna Foundation – Cancelled due to speaker illness
  • Aug 23 –Jane Conner, “Alfred Waud” – Cancelled due to speaker illness!
  • Sep 27 – CLUBHOUSE LOWER LEVEL–Brad Forbush – “Cedar Mountain, Then and Now” explores with visual materials changes to the battlefield over time.  The battlefield is remarkably preserved.  This presentation examines the accuracy of the battlefield sketches of War Correspondent Edwin Forbes who was on the scene, and tries to determine where photographer Timothy O’Sullivan captured his iconic images of the field just days after the battle. It also takes a look at efforts through time to memorialize the battle, beginning with the veterans, up to the present day. RECORDED PRESENTATION – CLICK HERE
  • Oct 25 –  John Cummings , “The Myer’s Hill Battlefield: Ground-Truthing and Boots on the Ground. What a Quarter-Century of Research Will Tell You” –
    One hundred sixty years ago, on the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield, May 14th, 1864, Union forces were massing for a decisive blow against Robert E. Lee’s exhausted Army of Northern Virginia. Myer’s Hill was selected as Union Headquarters, but CSA cavalry charges and counter attacks thwarted those plans and nearly led to capture or death for Commanding General George G. Meade. 
    John Cummings, historian and preservationist, will present his efforts to hold off developers, mark and successfully preserve this important property with the assistance of Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. RECORDED PRESENTATION: CLICK HERE
  • Nov 22 – Shannon Doherty, “They Came From Over The River” Shannon Doherty, formerly with the National Park Service and now education manager at Lake of the Woods’ next-door-neighbor Historic Germanna. She will present “They Came from Over the River” — a story of slavery, emancipation and the Union Army in Culpeper County. Many of you may have visited the Salubria plantation house at Stevensburg, which is maintained by Historic Germanna. It will be at the center of Shannon’s research that she will uncover for us then.
  • Dec – NO MEETING

 

  • Jan 27 – Bob Stone, Notable Women in the Civil War–REVISITED: This talk explores the lives of 14 American women (both North & South) who did notable service in the American Civil War in some field of endeavor not normally associated with women in that era of American life. These women would break barriers in the fields of nursing, medical physicians, spies, combat soldiers, writers and activists. Some are well known and some you may never have heard of before. These, and thousands of other women, lived through an extraordinary period of history, and by their deeds advanced the cause of women in America! RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Feb 24 –  Kevin Pawlak, “Antietam Endgame: The Conclusion of Lee’s Maryland Invasion, Sept. 18-20, 1862” The Maryland Campaign did not conclude with the Battle of Antietam on September 17. Three days of fighting and maneuvering after the bloodiest single day in American history ended Confederate hopes for a victory on Northern soil. The outcome of the campaign still hung much in the balance and sharp fighting at Shepherdstown and Williamsport proved to be the final events that turned one of this nation’s most crucial campaigns into a victory for the United States. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Mar 24 – ANNUAL DINNER, Evening – “Negligence on the Right: The Eleventh Corps at Chancellorsville” – Retired NPS Historian Don Pfanz will speak. “Stonewall” Jackson made one of the most famous and successful attacks of the Civil War at Chancellorsville. The victim of his attack was the Eleventh Corps, a unit later derided as “the Flying Dutchmen.” But was the Corp’s disgrace at Chancellorsville the result of cowardice, as its detractors claimed, or did the Corps suffer blame for the mistakes of its leaders? RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Apr 28 – Gene Betit, “Colored Troops in the Confederate Army” As the war entered the fall of 1864, R. E. Lee’s opposition to arming Black soldiers changed. After dual defeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863,  Major General Patrick Cleburne presented a well thought out memorandum for arming slaves at an Army of Tennessee staff meeting in January 1864. His proposal was roundly condemned as treasonous, squelched by Braxton Bragg and President Davis. As the noose at Petersburg tightened, General John B, Gordon, commander of 2nd Corps, also asserted the need for Black troops. 

    Vigorous debate was ongoing among Southern politicians and in the Confederate press; most opposed the measure as it countered the perpetuation of slavery. Because US Colored Troops had proven effective, by the closest of margins on March 13, 1865, the Confederate Congress authorized the recruitment of slaves and freedmen — less than a month before Appomattox. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • May 26 – William Connery, “President Tyler & the Peace Conference”

    At the start of the Civil War, five ex-Presidents (James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, Millard Fillmore, John Tyler and Martin Van Buren) were still alive. Probably the most controversial was John Tyler, the first vice-president to become president upon the death of the president. For his 15 years of retirement (1845-60), Tyler had tried to stay out of national politics. But when South Carolina seceded in December 1860, Tyler called for a Peace Conference which took place in Washington DC at the Willard Hotel in February 1861. Mr. Connery will give some details about Tyler’s presidency, what happened at the Conference, and what Tyler did that caused him to be declared a traitor to the Union. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • Jun 23 – Gregg Clemmer, Who the h#** was Old Alleghany?

    Ed Johnson is “one of the wickedest men I ever heard of,” wrote a member of the Stonewall Brigade. Declared another, he is “a large and rather rough looking man on horseback…whom the men jeered.” Others recalled Johnson as an irascible character who “always carried a big hickory club or cane, and when he got mad could work his ears like a mule.”  Still, Johnson’s highest accolades shine from subordinates who followed him into battle. They are legion, but perhaps summarized best in the words of artillerist William P. Carter: “No bolder soldier ever donned the Southern gray, or followed the storm-tossed colors of the immortal Lee.” 

    Despite warnings from several nationally known historians that few primary sources existed, Clemmer’s diligent research over a dozen years discovered two notable caches of Johnson letters and a treasure trove of primary records. As a result, Clemmer’s biography of Ed Johnson won the Douglas Southall Freeman History Award as the book of highest merit in the field of Southern history. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • Jul 28 – Dr. Daryl Black, “God is Blessing us in the Army, Revival Religion in Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia” Religion in the Antebellum South permeated every aspect of daily life. So when the young men of the South marched off to war, they carried with them a very specific religious mind-set forged by Calvinism, pro-slavery theology, and revivalism. Though the Confederate government was slow to create a Chaplaincy, denominational leaders across the South mobilized to provide preaching, meetings, and circulate religious literature within the camps of the Confederate Army. Their efforts began to bear fruit in the second half of 1862 and from that time until the end of the war, revivals swept the camps of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. This talk will provide an overview of the revivals in Lee’s Army, many of which took place in the camps near Orange Courthouse and help us to better understand the ways that antebellum religion was adapted to the unique experience of army life and how the experience of revival bolstered morale, gave hope, and connected the camps to the homefront. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Aug 25 – Jack Phend, “Dissecting Battle in the Wilderness: the 1866 Photographic Odessy of Surgeon General Reed “ You’ve probably seen many of these curious stereographic images before.  They form a body of work that evokes the carnage and destruction visited on our quiet rural landscape during two years of cataclysmic civil war. created on a two-day journey across the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania battlefields from April 12th to the 14th, 1866, they graphically depict the destruction in the woods, including temporary cemeteries, blasted woods, hasty burials and places of violent conflict.

    Featured in the presentation will be a recently rediscovered image that has aided historians and preservationists learn new information about Ellwood Plantation at the time of the Battle of the Wilderness. Colonel Bontecou and his photographer William Bell produced approximately 120 numbered images on those bleak April days across largely undisturbed battlefields in Orange and Spotsylvania Counties when the scars of war were still new.

    When viewed without explanation, many of these stereoscopes may seem mute and meaningless. Jack will illuminate the locales and identify the people seen in these photographs, adding new meaning to this curious visual collection. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • Sep 22 – Clubhouse Lower Level, King George County historian Bob O’Neill, Important Riots, The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville,”Contrary to popular belief, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac, neither ordered nor desired his cavalry to search for Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in mid-June 1863. Bob O’Neill will explain what Hooker asked his cavalry to do and how, by disobeying his orders, cavalry commander Alfred Pleasonton precipitated a series of clashes with Jeb Stuart in Northern Virginia’s Loudoun Valley. Bob’s new book, Small but Important Riots, the Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, was published in November 2022. RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Oct 27 –  Lewis H. Rogers, Superintendent of the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National MilitaryPark, “NPS – HEART & SOUL” RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Nov 17 – Dr. Pete Rainey, “The Army of the Potomac Withdrew in Anger” –

    As a visible sign of Lincoln’s declaration of total warfare, the land and homes of known Confederate government officials and other sympathizers, and commercial interests owned by known Confederate sympathizers were ransacked. The previous May most of the slaves left with the retreating Union from the Battle of Chancellorsville and most young men joined up with Lee. In November 1963 when the Army of the Potomac entered the Wilderness in Orange county (traveling through LOWA coming and going) the land had not been tilled nor planted, the livestock was few as most households were all women with a few old men and in a near-starving condition.  RECORDING AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • Dec – NO MEETING 
  • Jan 28 – VIA ZOOM: LOWA resident Bob Stone will discuss the First Battle of Kernstown in his talk “Stonewall Jackson’s Lone Defeat” — “Ordered to keep the Federals occupied in the Shenandoah Valley, Stonewall Jackson approaches Kernstown, Virginia on a chilly afternoon of March 23, 1862 believing that only an enemy rear guard of four regiments stands in his path. As he throws his 3,000 infantrymen into battle across an artillery-swept plain, Jackson soon discovers he has been misled. The Confederates shelter themselves behind a stone wall and come face to face with James Shield’s 11,000-man division. As expected, Stonewall resolves to make a stand at bayonet point . . ,” (David E. Roth, Publisher/Editor of Blue&Gray Magazine  ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Feb 25 – John Hennessy — “Ellwood’s Anthony Jone’s Legacy: A Window on Slavery, Freedom, and a Nation Coping”  In 1835, Anthony Jones–enslaved his entire life–ran away from Ellwood. In 1873 he died in New York City. His death triggered a scramble for his estate among family members–all of them formerly enslaved people at Ellwood. While court cases like this are typically uninteresting, this one provides by far our most vivid look at how slavery worked at Ellwood and in this region, and how a community of formerly enslaved people adapted in the post-war period–including the hundreds of descendants, many of who still live in the region.  ON YOUTUBE; CLICK HERE
  • Mar 25 – Jack Phend, “The 1864 G. K. Warren Staff Photo: Is this picture worth 1,000 words?” CWSG’s Jack Phend will explore controversies raised by a recently-discovered version of this photo, prominently displayed at Ellwood Manor. How did it come to be at the National Archives? Can we say definitively by whom or where it was created, and why? Who are the officers pictured with Army of the Potomac’s Fifth Corps Commander, Major General Gouveneur Kemble Warren; why were they there; what became of them? Who identified these men? And who are those mysterious onlookers in the background? Questions will be answered, but others may be raised. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Apr 22 – Eric Mink, NPS Historian, “The CCC in the Wilderness – Rebuilding a Battlefield”
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program during the Great Depression that gave millions of young men employment. Many of the camps and work projects benefited national parks, such as the local Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. At Camp MP-4 on the Wilderness Battlefield, hundreds of men worked during the eight years the camp operated, 1933-1941. They built trails, picnic areas, assisted the NPS in the development of visitor service and interpretive material, along with landscaping and maintenance of the battlefield. Much of what they accomplished still survives if you know where to look. National Park Service Historian Eric J. Mink will discuss the role of the CCC the achievements of the men who worked at Camp MP-4. ON YOUTUBE; CLICK HERE
  • May 14 – ANNUAL DINNER!! — Carleton Young on “Voices in the Attic”

    Imagine clearing out your family attic and discovering an enormous collection of letters written by two soldiers during the Civil War, but not knowing why the letters were there. Faced with that situation, Carleton Young spent more than a decade visiting battlefields and researching the two  soldiers as well as other people who appear in the letters. The two brothers were members of the celebrated Vermont Brigade in the 6th Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In Voices From the Attic: The Williamstown Boys in the Civil War, he tells the story of these two brothers who witnessed and made history by fighting in the Peninsula Campaign, then at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, the Bristoe Campaign, the Wilderness, Petersburg, and Cedar Creek. They then preserved that history through their surprisingly detailed and insightful letters. An additional element of the book as a final chapter involves a personal account of solving the mystery of how the letters ended up undisturbed a century and a half later in his parents’ attic in Pittsburgh and making the family connection to the soldiers. ON YOUTUBE; CLICK HERE

  • Jun 24 – Gene Betit, “The 10 Battles In and Around Winchester”

    Winchester’s importance during the Civil War was due to its importance as a center of commerce served by a network of well-developed roads radiating in nine directions. It was also located near the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and was connected to the B & O by a spur line. Further, its occupation by a sizeable enemy force threatened Washington. Although historians like to observe that the town was captured over 70 times, it is more accurate to say that Winchester was occupied by Union forces seven times. ON YOUTUBE; CLICK HERE

  • Jul 22 – Bruce “Doc” Norton: The United States Marines in the Civil War — Harpers Ferry
    The Marines were instrumental in suppressing John Brown’s raid on the town’s Federal Armory and attempted slave insurrection. The Marines were the only professional fighting force that could respond immediately when the call for assistance came to retake the Armory, which Brown’s men had seized. The Marines were led by highly professional and well-trained officers and noncommissioned officers who represented a decades-old standard of excellence well established by the eve of the Civil War. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Aug 11 – Concerns About Wilderness Crossings Project
    Many residents of Eastern Orange County have expressed concerns about the proposed Wilderness Crossing residential & commercial development near the intersection of Rts 3 & 20. Don McCown, Piedmont Environmental Council’s land use field representative for Orange and Madison counties, will give an update on the project and highlight the potential impact on Wilderness Battlefield and the problem of toxic mercury contamination left over from historic golf mining at the site. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Aug 26 – Battle of Cedar Mountain

    Historian Mike Block

    In early August 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson took to the field with his famous Army of the Valley for one last fight—one that would also turn out to be his last independent command – and marched north.

    Six miles from Culpeper, at the base of Cedar Mountain, in the midst of a blistering heat wave, outnumbered Federal infantry under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks attacked Jackson’s army as it approached Culpeper Court House. A violent three-hour battle erupted, yielding more than 3,600 casualties. “The carnage was fearful,” one observer wrote.

    The unexpected Federal aggressiveness nearly won the day. Jackson, attempting to rally his men, drew his sword—only to find it so rusted, it would not come unsheathed. “Jackson is with you!” he cried, brandishing the sword still in its scabbard.

    The tide of battle turned—and the resulting victory added to Stonewall’s mystique.

    Civil War history typically breezes by the battle of Cedar Mountain, moving quickly from the Seven Days’ Battles into the Second Bull Run Campaign, but the stand-alone battle at Cedar Mountain had major implications. It saw the emergence of the Federal cavalry as an effective intelligence collector and screening force. It also provided Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill’s first opportunity to save the day—and his first opportunity to raise Jackson’s ire. Within the Federal Army, the aftermath of the battle escalated the in-fighting among generals and led to recriminations and finger-pointing over why the battle was even fought.

    Some called it outright murder.

    Most importantly, the Federal defeat at Cedar Mountain halted MG John Pope’s advance into central Virginia, providing the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee, an opportunity to take the fight away from Richmond and toward Washington. Lee would take the initiative and the armies would collide again on the Manassas plains.

    For over a decade, Michael Block has been deeply involved in developing interpretation for the Cedar Mountain battlefield. The Carnage was Fearful presents the battle with the full boots-on-the-ground insight Block has earned while walking the ground and bringing its story to life. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • Sep 23 – CLUBHOUSE LOWER LEVEL, Peter Rainey, founding member of CWSG: “Four Generals and a Horse,” How and why generals on both sides fell into enemy hands the night of May 6, 1864, and one of them was captured and another escaped capture hours later on the same horse! . ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
  • Oct 28 – CLUBHOUSE LOWER LEVEL Tom Neubig: THE WINTER ENCAMPMENTS OF 1863/64 Between the Mine Run engagement and the start of the Overland Campaign at the Wilderness, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia wintered for five months in Culpeper County and Orange County, respectively, with almost 200,000 troops.  The presentation will explore our two local counties from the perspective of these Civil War winter encampments, and the potential future Brandy Station and Cedar Mountain State Park. PROGRAM RECORDING: Click Here; PROGRAM SLIDESHOW: Click Here
  • Nov 18 – Speaker John Kanaster:

    For the 159th Anniversary of the battle of Mine Run (November 26-December 1, 1863) we will discuss Gen. George Meade’s last attempt of the year to destroy Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. This will become Meade’s last battle before Grant comes east. Mine Run was fought in the Locust Grove Wilderness region of Orange County, Virginia and is part of the “Forgotten Fall of 1863”, a series of battles fought between Gettysburg & the Wilderness. Learn about the events that would become the precursor to the battle of the Wilderness in 1864 and the catalyst for Grant coming east. We will discuss the battlefield preservation potential to reclaim this forgotten battlefield in our back yard. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

  • Dec – NO MEETING 
    • Jan 22  –  Bob Stone will give a presentation on West Virginia statehood. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
    • Feb 26 – The Sand Creek Massacre: A Civil War Atrocity in the West. Speaker John Launius, a NPS Ranger at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, details the forces that led to this massacre. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
    • Mar 26 – Jim Lewis, “Consumate Soldier: Charles Russell Lowell, Jr.”: Charles Russell Lowell was born into a life of privilege in the Boston, MA area; however, he took a different path! He rejected his youthful belief in self-culture in favor of a philosophy that found meaning in action. In war, unlike in civilian life, he felt he could see what needed to be done and do it. In the American Civil War Lowell found purpose. Follow Charles’ exploits through the war years as he emerges as one of the Union cavalry’s exceptional battlefield commanders. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
    • Apr 23 – Four Years a Target: St. George’s Church building as Ground Zero in the Civil War. VIA ZOOM. Founding CWSG member Craig Rains will present stories surrounding this church building in downtown Fredericksburg that was witness to unique events every year of the war. Founded in 1720 and opened in 1721, the St. George’s parish is celebrating its 300th anniversary this year. A Zoom presentation. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
    • May 21 – 146th New York Zouaves in Saunders Field –10:30 AM, LOW CLUBHOUSE! Patrick Schroeder, NPS Historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. A Civil War author/historian, Patrick will speak about the 146th New York Zouaves, who were engaged in the fighting at Saunders Field in May 1864. Raised in Oneida County, New York, the unit had the distinction of adopting Zouave uniforms in 1863. One of the better units in the Army of the Potomac, they proved themselves on the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg’s Little Round Top, the Wilderness–where they lost 315 men, Spotsyvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomattox. Reproduction uniforms will be brought for display, and details will be explained. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE  
    • Jun 25 – Meade and Lee at Rappahannock Station: The Army of the Potomac’s First Post-Gettysburg Offensive, From Kelly’s Ford to the Rapidan, October 21 to November 20, 1863 Historian Jeffrey Hunt will recount Lee’s bold strategy to hold the Rappahannock line and lure Meade into a deadly trap, including a stunning triumph at Rappahannock Station. Hunt shatters many of the myths surrounding Rappahannock Station, employing new evidence to reveal how the fight actually unfolded, the real reason for Confederate defeat, how close Lee came to winning, and why Meade failed to exploit his unexpected victory despite gaining, however briefly, the upper hand in his deadly duel with Lee. ON YOUTUBE, CLICK HERE
    • Jul 23 – Peter Rainey, “Old Soldiers Do Not Lie, They Become Politicians!”: Gordon’s Flank Attack takes place within a square mile of Orange County and only involved a handful of Generals. Of those, one went on to be a U.S. President, two became U.S, Senators, one a Mayor and one the unelected leader of “The South Will Rise Again.” Pete will contrast what they reported soon after the battle and what they wrote decades later. ON YOUTUBE, CLICK HERE
    • Aug 27 – Terry Rensel, Executive Director of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, will speak on CVBT’s 25 years as the area’s leading historical property preservationist, as well as report on the current campaign to add 36 acres to the Wilderness Battlefield.  ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
    • Sep 23 – ANNUAL DINNER, CLUBHOUSE: Gregg Clemmer, “Why the Civil War Still Lives.” Clemmer compares and contrasts the details and events of the 1860s with those today — everything from clothing styles, poems, and music to speeches, food, and quotes to the famous, infamous, and forgotten. But of more importance, perhaps, what is The War’s enduring legacy? And how do Americans today compare with those from that time in their response to devastating events? Expect the unexpected! ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE
    • Oct 22 – Jane Conner – Janes’s talk will be about one of the six people highlighted in her Sinners, Saints and Soldiers in Civil War Stafford book, Dr. Mary Walker. Dr. Walker was called an outstanding humanitarian but also called a freak. She was a doctor, surgeon, abolitionist, prohibitionist, and prisoner of war. During the war she volunteered with the Union Army and was captured by Confederate forces after crossing enemy lines to care for injured civilians, was arrested as a spy and sent to prison in Richmond, Virginia. She was released in a prisoner exchange agreement. She was the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. The award was taken from her, and she fought for many years for its return. After the war Mary became a writer and lecturer. She spoke in America as well as abroad. In America, she supported women’s suffrage until her death in early 1919. ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE 
    • Nov 19 – VIA ZOOM Historian John Reeves will discuss his recently published book,

      “A Fire in the Wilderness: The First Battle Between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee”  At the outset of the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, the stakes could not have been higher for the future of the United States of America. General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia still remained capable of defeating the Army of the Potomac and driving it back across the Rapidan River. If General Ulysses S. Grant’s spring campaign ended in failure, then it’s extremely likely that President Lincoln wouldn’t have been reelected in November. Lincoln firmly believed his successor would have sought peace immediately and such a peace would have meant an end to the Union. The book “A Fire in the Wilderness: The First Battle Between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee” depicts the initial bloody showdown between the two most celebrated military leaders of the Civil War. In this lecture, John Reeves will discuss the performance of the two generals in the Wilderness. We will see why this battle marked the beginning of the end for the Confederate States of America. The fighting in the Wilderness was especially horrific. One officer wrote, “It was as though Christian men had turned to fiends, and hell itself had usurped the place of the earth.” ON YOUTUBE: CLICK HERE

    • December – NO MEETING
  • Jan 24  –   Bob Epp, Bob Lookabill  & Bob Johnson discussed Civil War genealogy. Bob Johnson began with a review of available resources, and focus on their use in completing part of his family tree based upon Civil War diary entries of an ancestor. Next Bob Epp talked about the new hospital room exhibit at Ellwood Manor, focusing on research performed on 23 named Confederate soldiers treated at Ellwood. Finally, Bob Lookabill recounted further research on one of those soldiers, which resulted in visits to his home place and interviews with some of his descendants.
  • Feb 28  –   Bob Stone, Notable Women in the Civil War: This talk explored the lives of 14 American women (both North & South) who did notable service in the American Civil War in some field of endeavor not normally associated with women in that era of American life. These women would break barriers in the fields of nursing, medical physicians, spies, combat soldiers, writers and activists. Some are well known and some you may never have heard of before. These, and thousands of other women, lived through an extraordinary period of history, and by their deeds advanced the cause of women in America!
  • Mar 27  –  DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THIS MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED! We hope to reschedule Ms. Conner at a later date. Jane Conner, Lincoln in Stafford: In 1862 and 1863, Lincoln visited Stafford County, Virginia six different times, for a total of fourteen days. Traveling around the area where our first President George Washington grew up, he observed over 135,000 troops in the Army of the Potomac. Jane’s talk will highlight Lincoln’s visits with commanders, soldiers, and even wounded men in hospitals.
  • Apr 24  –  CANCELLED! Jim Lewis, “Consumate Soldier: Charles Russell Lowell, Jr.”: Charles Russell Lowell was born into a life of privilege in the Boston, MA area; however, he took a different path! He rejected his youthful belief in self-culture in favor of a philosophy that found meaning in action. In war, unlike in civilian life, he felt he could see what needed to be done and do it. In the American Civil War Lowell found purpose. Follow Charles’ exploits through the war years as he emerges as one of the Union cavalry’s exceptional battlefield commanders.
  • May 22   –  CANCELLED! Elizabeth Varon, “Armies of Deliverance”—In her comprehensive history of the American Civil War, Varon, University of Virginia professor of American History, argues that the Union was motivated to fight not only to free the slaves, but also to redeem white Southerners from the tyranny of the planter class and the slaveholding economy. This politics of deliverance helped unify the North and contributed to the Union victory, but it failed to grapple with resistance from white Southerners who rejected the North’s terms and undermined Reconstruction. Interweaving military and social history, Varon offers new perspectives on the attitudes, goals, and frustrations of both sides.
  • Jun 26  –   CANCELLED, TO BE RESCHEDULED – Peter Rainey, “Old Soldiers Do Not Lie, They Become Politicians!”: Gordon’s Flank Attack takes place within a square mile of Orange County and only involved a handful of Generals. Of those, one went on to be a U.S. President, two became U.S, Senators, one a Mayor and one the unelected leader of “The South Will Rise Again.” Pete will contrast what they reported soon after the battle and what they wrote decades later.
  • Jul 24   –   CANCELLED
  • Aug 28 –   CANCELLED DUE TO LOWA COVID 19 RULES. Gregg Clemmer, “Why the Civil War Still Lives”: Clemmer compares and contrasts the details and events of the 1860s with those today — everything from clothing styles, poems, and music to speeches, food, and quotes to the famous, infamous, and forgotten. But of more importance, perhaps, what is The War’s enduring legacy? And how do Americans today compare with those from that time in their response to devastating events? Expect the unexpected!
  • Sep 25  –   CANCELLED DUE TO LOWA COVID 19 RULES. Jane Conner, “Sinner, Saints, and Soldiers”: Jane’s book, “Sinner, Saints, and Soldiers” talks about three women and three men who were in the Fredericksburg area during the Civil War. Her presentation will be about one of those men, General Sickles, and one of the women, Princess Salm-Salm. They were both such interesting people! 
  • Oct. 23 –  Annual Dinner, RESCHEDULED TO MAY, 2021. Patrick Schroeder, NPS Historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. A Civil War author/historian, Patrick will speak about the 146th New York Zouaves, who were engaged in the fighting at Saunders Field in May 1864.
  • Nov 20 –   ZOOM VIRTUAL MEETING. Bob Lookabill & Bob Epp – Ellwood Hospital Exhibit: The idea of a hospital exhibit at Ellwood Manor, highlighting its use as a hospital during and after the  Battle of Chancellorsville, was spawned about 10 years ago by Carolyn Jones Elstner and long-time medical reenactor John Pelletier. Open in May of 2020, the exhibit is the result of diligent research, many visits to Civil War medical sites, particularly the Gettysburg Medical Museum at Seminary Ridge and the Medical Museum of the Civil War in Frederick, MD, and funding efforts by the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield. The current team of John Kanaster, Bob Epp and Bob Lookabill have made the concept a reality and will share their research and efforts with you.
  • Dec      –   NO MEETING
  • January 25 –  John Hennessey, NPS. “The Civil War’s Legacy and Its Place in Our Modern Culture”
  • February 22 —  Dr. John Tole, President of Rappahannock Historical Society, presented “General Joshua Chamberlain: Soul of a Lion”
  • Mar 22 —  Robert Stone, LOW resident, will make a presentation on the Confederate Jones/Imboden Raid into Western Virginia: “The River of Fire” 
  • April 26 —  Frank O’Reilly, Lead Historian, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park: “A Fierce and Deadly Conquest” about how a maverick officer from Mississippi, William Barksdale, ruined the Union plans for battle, setting the stage for Lee’s most resounding victory. 
  • May 24 —  Jeff McClurken, University of Mary Washington. Dr. McClurken’s spoke about his findings presented in his 2009 monograph “Take Care of the Living: Reconstructing Virginia’s Confederate Veteran Families.”
  • June 28 —  Bob O’Neill of King George County, who specializes in studying Civil War cavalry engagements, will give a presentation on Jeb Stuart’s Christmas Raid of December 1862.
  • July 26 —  Jeff Hunt, historian, will give a presentation on “Meade and Lee at Bristoe Station
  • Aug 23 — Gene Betit, historian, will discuss a topic from his new book: “US Colored Troops’ Decisive Role In The Civil War”
  • Sep 27 —  Luisa Dispenzirie, NPS Museum Curator, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. Luisa will be sharing with us some of the background of how her office handles historic artifacts. Background: Luisa is the NPS contact Joe Rokus worked with on the digitization of the correspondence of Sgt. Jerome Pierce, a project to which many of you contributed considerable talent and time! (She has degrees from University of Mary Washington and George Washington University.) 
  • Oct 18 —  ANNUAL DINNER, evening. Speaker Chris Mackowski, historian, will center on the Mine Run Campaign, the subject his latest book “The Great Battle Never Fought: Mine Run.”
  • Nov 22 — Theresa Tempesta, the recipient of our annual scholarship to the American Battlefields Trust Annual Teacher Institute, shared with us her experience and how she has already included what she’s learned into her teaching.
  • December– NO MEETING
  • January –No meeting
  • Feb 22 – Greg Mertz, NPS. “Barriers to Battle:  Fords Along the Rapidan”  Greg gave an inside presentation of his annual canoe trip (sans canoe!).
  • Mar 23 — Rebekah Oakes, NPS.  “Belonging to the Ages:  Abraham Lincoln in Myth and Memory.”  Over the last 150 years we have cast him in copper and bronze, enshrined him in stone, and even occasionally transformed him into a vampire hunter!  Rebekah explored how Lincoln’s memory has been interpreted, debated, and used by generations of Americans from his death until the present day.  
  • Apr 27 — Zann Nelson’s talk was based upon her research for the Montpelier Foundation study “The  African American Descendants’ Quest.” She told of enslaved men born in Orange County, the participation of some in the US Colored Troops, and then trace the post Emancipation lives of some of the freedmen who ended up working for the gold mines in the area.
  • May 24 — Jim Carson, retired CIA, presented a talk centered on his new book “Chasing Mosby, Shooting Booth.”  The book details the exploits of the 16th New York Volunteer Cavalry.
  •  Jun 22 — Captain Ed Gantt spoke about the US Colored Troops in the Battle of the Wilderness.  
  • Jul 27 — The “First” Campaign. LOW resident Bob Stone for the past 13 years has taught the Civil War curriculum at Encore Learning of Arlington, VA, an affiliate organization of George Mason University which offers college-level courses to retired adults.  His talk covered Gen. George B. McClellan’s May 1861 campaign to drive all Confederate troops out of western Virginia and to secure the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad plus the major roads cutting through that part of Virginia.  It highlighted some of the “firsts” while describing the major actions of the campaign and the field generalship of George B. McClellan.  
  • Aug 24 — Joe Rokus presented a talk on Sgt. Jerome Peirce.  Peirce was in the 36th Massachusetts which saw action in the Western Theater (Vicksburg and other battles) before coming East to be included in Burnside’s 9th Corps.  He was killed at Spotsylvania Courthouse.  His remains were eventually reinterred at Fredericksburg National Cemetery, where for many years annual delivery of flowers to his grave were a mystery.  
  • Sep 27 — Sharon Grubbs, 6th Grade teacher at Locust Grove Middle School, reported on her experiences and impressions from attending, as our scholarship recipient, the American Battlefield Trust’s Teachers Institute in Memphis this July. 
  • Oct 26 –  Annual Dinner, Dr. Elizabeth Varon, University of Virginia historian, recounted the story of Elizabeth Van Lew who plied her trade as a Union spy in Richmond! 
  • Nov 30 —  John Hennessy, National Park Service Historian, presented General Joseph Hooker, commanding general of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
  • December – No meeting 
  • Feb 24 – John Hennessy, NPS Historian, Vile Spirits or War Transformed?, The Looting and Bombardment of Fredericksburg
  • Mar 24 – Eugene D. Betit, PhD, “The Hite Family in the Civil War”
  • Mar 29 – Dinner and speaker event in conjunction with Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, featuring NPS historian Frank O’Reilly: “The Battle of the Wilderness: Bloody Road to Peace with Lee and Grant.” 
  • Apr 1 – PARK DAY. This annual event helps the National Park Service get the battlefields cleaned up and ready for the thousands of visitors this summer. Coordinated in our area by Friends of Wilderness Battlefield. 
  • Apr 28 – Peter Rainey, “An artist, a gold miner and a writer in the Battle of the Wilderness.”
  • May 26 – Memorial Golf Tournament, LOW GOLF COURSE
  • Jun 23 – Carolyn Elstner, “Burying the Dead”,  J. Horace Lacy and the founding of the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery  Carolyn Elstner grew up at Ellwood Manor as the granddaughter of the second family to own the house. A founding member and moving force in the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield for over 17 years, she is President of the Fredericksburg Ladies Memorial Association.  
  • Jul 28 – Author and historian Frank S. Walker Jr. will speak on the Mine Run campaign of the winter of 1863 when Gen. George Meade’s Army of the Potomac rolled through Lake of the Woods to clash with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia less than five miles west of LOW.
  • Aug 25 – Orange County middle school teacher Rodney Hawkins, recipient of this year’s $1,000 scholarship to the Civil War Trust’s National Teacher institute, will report on his experiences at the Memphis event.
  • Sep 29 – Our Speaker:  Bob Johnson explained his use of GPS technology to identify historic trails.  He will also walk us through the use of his Driving Tours (available in this website on the Resources page).
  • Oct 27 – Annual Dinner, Clubhouse, Evening, Our Speaker:  John Hennessy, Chief Historian, FSNMP will spoke on “Home Disrupted:  A Community Amidst War.” 
  • Nov 17 – “Still on Parade: Civil War Veterans and a Usable Past in Great Depression-Era America”  As Civil War veterans aged and their numbers began to dwindle as the 75th Anniversary of the American Civil War approached, what was their role in commemorating the events of their youth?  Our Speaker:  Rebekah Oakes, National Park Service Historian, FSNMP.
  • December – NO MEETING
  • Feb 26, 19:30 a.m.       Orange County historian Frank Walker spoke on “Missing the Mark on Mercy Street: Who was the Real Frank Stringfellow?” and his Walker family’s relationship with this actual character from the six-part series “Mercy Street” that ended February 21 on PBS. Some episodes still may be viewed on line at http://www.pbs.org/show/mercy-street/. More than 90 people attended the meeting. (PBS has announced that “Mercy Street” has been picked up for a second season.)
  • Mar 17, 10:30 A.M.  Mike Block, vice president of Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield, spoke on “Culpeper County: a Guided Civil War Tour — with Commentary from the Participants,” using photos, drawings and commentary from the ones who were there. 
  •  Apr 2, 8:30 A.M. – Civil War Trust-History Channel Park Day. More than 125 sites in 29 states joined in today to get our national battlefields spruced up for the summer visitors. Thanks to the sponsors Civil War Trust and History Channel and our local coordinators Friends of Wilderness Battlefield and Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield.
  • Apr 22, 10:30 A.M.    Author Harold R. Woodward Jr. made a fascinating presentation on the life of James Lawson Kemper. Born in Madison County, Kemper was a Confederate Major General who went on to become the 37th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia following the war. He is buried here in Orange County.  
  • May 27, 1 P.M.    6th Annual Battle of the Wilderness Memorial Golf Tournament. The reason why the Civil War Study Group has no dues to pay for its many projects is because of the income we derive from our sponsors and players in this annual tournament. We are grateful for their assistance in helping preserve the great history of our part of Virginia and the men and women who were part of it. Jack Phend is tournament director. Player registration ended May 21.
  •  Jun 24, 10:30 A.M.    Six Things We Bet You Didn’t know about the Battle of Trevellian Station, June 11-12, 1864. CWSGI President Craig Rains presented the largest ALL-CAVALRY BATTLE of the entire Civil War that took place just 35 miles south of Lake of the Woods. Lower level, Lake of the Woods Clubhouse.

     

  • Jul 22, 10:30 A.M.    Elizabeth “Beth” Daly, a member of the board of directors of the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center presented “Finding Gems in Virginia’s Largest Regional Archives: Central Rappahannock Heritage Center.” The Fredericksburg facility staff and volunteers help in the preservation of several hundred thousand historic documents and photographs from the Fredericksburg area. It is a treasure trove for researchers. Lower level, Lake of the Woods Clubhouse.

  • Aug 26, 10:30 AM. Ben Brockenbrough, chief administrator of Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, Inc., presented “A Pretty Good Start: Central Virginia Battlefields Trust at 20,” a program on CVBT’s marking its 20th anniversary this year. Lower level, Lake of the Woods Clubhouse.

  • Sep 23, 10:30 A.M.    “Does the Civil War Really Matter Anymore?” Sharon Grubbs, an area history teacher who was awarded a scholarship by CWSG to attend the Civil War Trust’s National Teacher Institute reports back to the group on the event. Lower level, Lake of the Woods Clubhouse (GPS address: 205 Lakeview Pkwy, Locust Grove, VA 22508).

  • Oct 15, 9 A.M. – Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield leads a driving tour of the route of General Stonewall Jackson’s troops to the 1862 Battle of Cedar Mountain in Culpeper County. Starts at FOCMB contact station. Details at http://friendsofcedarmountain.org/ or call (540) 727-8849.

  • Oct 28, 5:30 P.M., dinner and speaker. Dr. Jeffrey L. Zvengrowski of the University of Virginia will present the strange story of the Confederacy’s attempt to get France to join it in the war against the Union. “They Stood Like the ‘Old Guard of Napoleon’: Jefferson Davis and the pro-Bonaparte Democrats, 1815-1870” at the Civil War Study Group’s annual dinner. Lake of the Woods Clubhouse.

  • Nov 18, 10:30 A.M.    Dr. Pete Rainey, former CWSGI chairman, concluded the year’s series of speakers with a special presentation on the carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and its connection to the Mine Run Campaign of November-December, 1863.

  • December. No meeting.
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Civil War Study Group, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to historical research, preservation, and education.

Civil War Study Group, Inc.

P.O. Box 1204, Locust Grove, VA 22508

at Lake of the Woods, Virginia

“Battle of The Wilderness…literally in OUR yards!”

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