Author: Ben

A Tour of the Civil War Forts of Washington D.C.

Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table

Saturday, April 27, 2013

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is hosting its first tour.  All of us have heard about the large number of forts built around Washington during the Civil War, but few have visited them.  This tour will visit the following forts:

• De Russy
• Foote
• Marcy
• Stevens
• Ward
• Washington

We will also drive by a number of other forts, which may include (depending on time): Willard, Farnsworth, Lyons, Barnard, Albany, Myer, Craig, C.F. Smith and Ethan Allen, Bayard, Reno, Slocum. We may also swing by Battery Martin Scott and Battery Bailey. Finally, we will drive by Walter Reed Hospital to view Confederate battle lines.

Our guide will be Peter MacNeill, who has always had a fascination for American military history since he began watching John Wayne and Errol Flynn movies with his father on Saturday mornings in the 50s. He still remembers being 5 years old in 1956 and seeing the cannon at Vicksburg. Moving to the Washington region in 1971 he has visited regional Civil War battlefields such as Antietam and Gettysburg thousands of times. In 1990 he passed the NPS Gettysburg battlefield guide written exam. In 1992 he began his career as a licensed Washington DC tour guide and specializes in veteran’s military reunion tours and Civil War battlefield tours

The cost of the tour includes a Keller bus, guided tour, and lunch at the Great American Steakhouse (buffet) in Falls Church.

The cost is $55 for members of the Round Table (and their guests). Those paying by or at the February 12, 2013 Round Table meeting will only pay $50.

The cost for nonmembers is $60.

January 8, 2013

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at the College of Southern Maryland (LaPlata campus) at 7:00pm in the Business & Industry Building, Room 113.

Guest Speaker:  Dr. Thomas Jarvis

A new year brings a new format for the first meeting of the Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table in 2013, as Dr. Thomas Jarvis will speak on the causes of the Civil War.  Historians still debate this issue, with strong feelings regarding what on the surface may appear to be a simple question.  Great events in history, such as the outbreak of a war,  may seem to have been caused by a single event, but there are usually a complex series of issues, events and causes which lead to the actual outbreak of hostilities.  The attack on Fort Sumter started the bloodiest war in U. S history, but there a great number of issues between the North and South that had festered over the years, which finally came to a head and triggered warfare.  Dr. Jarvis will discuss various historical interpretations regarding the outbreak of the Civil War, review issues that caused sectional tensions and categorize general causes of the war. Those attending  the meeting will have the opportunity question Dr. Jarvis and bring forth their own interpretation of the causes of the Civil War.  (Kindly and gently, of course 🙂 ).

Dr. Thomas Jarvis has taught history as a Professorial Instructor at American University in Washington, D.C. and as a member of the adjunct faculty at the College of Southern Maryland.  While at CSM, Dr. Jarvis developed and taught two specialty courses; “The History of American Warfare” and “The U.S. and Twentieth Century World Affairs.”  He has a B.A. in history from Stony Brook University, NY, a master’s degree from the School of International Service, American University and a Ph.D in U.S. History from American University.  Dr. Jarvis served three years in the Unites States Army, where he worked in the intelligence field with the Army Security Agency and retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as a Senior Executive.

 

Mosby’s Rangers will be the topic of this month’s Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table program.  Commanded by Colonel John Singleton Mosby, the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry was one fo the most famous units of the Civil War.  The unit was formed on June 10, 1863, at Rector’s Cross Roads, Virginia and became noted for its lighting strikes on Union targets and its ability to consistently elude pursuit.  It played a large role in disrupting Federal communications and supply lines.  The troopers melted into the civilian population until called to arms for a mission.  Speed, surprise and shock were the secrets of the success of Mosby’s command, allowing them to successfully strike much larger bodies of enemy troops.  Capturing a Union general was perhaps its most celebrated feat.

The speaker for December will be Eric Buckland, author of several books on Mosby’s command.  His talk is entitled, “A Few Mosby Men.”  After graduating from the University of Kansas, Mr. Buckland entered the U.S. Army, serving with distinction for twenty two years in the Special Forces and several airborne divisions.  He was deployed in Panama, Honduras and El Salvador.  He retired from the military in 1999 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. Buckland’s interest in Mosby’s Rangers began as a young boy and increased with his military service. He is especially interested in the individual stories of Mosby’s men.  You can learn more at Mr. Buckland’s website, http://www.mosbymen.com/

Our program is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11, 2012 in BI 113 (Business and Industry Building) at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome to attend, but membership in the Round Table is encouraged.

 

 

October 9, 2012

The Southern Maryland Civil War Roundtable is pleased to announce its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at the College of Southern Maryland (La Plata campus) at 7:00PM in the Business and Industry Building , Room 113.

Guest Speaker: Matthew Borowick

Matthew Borowick  will present an informative talk entitled, “The Court Martial of Fitz John Porter.”  As in sports, the Civil War had its share of heroes and its shares of men to whom blame for defeat or disaster was attached.  A Union defeat at Manassas in the summer of 1862 led to criticism and a court-martial for one of the rising stars of the Army of the Potomac’s high command.

After Robert E. Lee drove John Pope’s army back to Washington, questions were raised about who was responsible for the defeat.  Fingers quickly pointed toward Major General Fitz John Porter, who did not perform as pope had expected him to because, as Porter’s enemies claimed, Porter wanted to see Pope fail.  Porter spent the next 24 years of his life trying to clear his name.

This month’s unique and energetic presentation on a rarely discussed but incredibly fascinating topic will focus on the events surrounding the Union defeat at Second Manassas and how rivalries in the Northern Armies led to the downfall of one of the North’s ablest generals.

The program will be provided by Matthew Borowick, who has had a lifelong interest in the American Civil War, dating back to his days as a first grader, when he took his copy of “The Golden Book of the Civil War” to school daily.  Today, Matthew is one of four regular columnists for the well regarded Civil War News, serving as the author of “Round Table Review”. which describes the practices of Civil War round tables across the country.  In 2010, he authored and published The Civil War Round Table Handbook – The Indispensable Guide to Running Yours Right.

Additional Information

Meetings are free and open the public, but membership to the Round table is highly encouraged ($30 per year).  For more information, please contact Dr. Brad Gottfried at 301-934-7625 or bgottfried@csmd.edu.