December 13, 2022

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will be held Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 7:00pm at The Maryland Veterans Museum, 11000 Crain Highway North, Newburg, MD 20664.

Guest Speaker:  Tom Belote

Join us this evening, as we welcome Round table member Tom Belote and his presentation, “Rebels on the Rio Grande:  The Confederate Campaign of New Mexico 1861-1862″.

While the Civil War raged back east, a Confederate campaign to drive the Yankees from the New Mexico Territory, capture the silver and lead mines of Colorado, and the gold mines and strategic ports of California was well underway.  Conceived in the mind of Gen Henry Sibley, this campaign had the aim to extend the Confederacy from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific Ocean.   The Confederate advance up the Rio Grande valley achieved some initial successes so that by early 1862, the Stars & Bars were floating over Mesilla, Tucson, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe, and the rebels were on the move to capture the new Territory of Colorado.  However, at Glorieta Pass, the Confederate advance was stymied due to a loss of its logistics train.  The campaign ultimately ended in a humiliating Confederate retreat.   Often called “The Gettysburg of the West,” this campaign has been largely relegate to historical obscurity but needs to be told.   The objectives, leadership, intelligence, and logistics of the campaign will be discussed.

Tom Belote is a 30-year veteran of the US Army, retiring as a Colonel.  He is a 1977 ROTC graduate of Virginia Tech with a BS in Agronomy and also holds a MS in International Relations from Campbell University.  He served as an Air Defense Artillery, Foreign Area, Psychological Operations, and Civil Affairs officer in the United States, West Germany, and Cameroon, Africa.  As a Department of Defense  civilian, Tom served as an Intelligence Officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC and as a Military Liaison Officer with the Joint Warfare Analysis Center in Dahlgren, VA where he supported strategic planning at the US Central Command in Tampa, FL; the European Command in Stuttgart, Germany; and the Indo-Pacific Command in Honolulu, HI.   Tom volunteers at The National Museum of the US Army at Ft Belvoir, VA and at the Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Charles County.  Tom is also a Revolutionary War living history re-enactor.  He and his wife Mary have three children and three grandchildren.

Attendance is free, but membership is encouraged. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org.

 

 

A Guided Tour of Civil War Charles County

Date:  Saturday, April 16, 2022

This tour provides you with an opportunity to traverse the back roads of Charles County and learn about the places and events that affected so many lives during the Civil War.  We will stop and explore historic locations such as Port Tobacco and Rich Hill.

We will also amble through a few of the famous Civil War cemeteries such as those at the Old Piney Chapel and St. Ignatius Church at Chapel Point.  At times, the bus will stop on the side of the road at the sites of ghost towns like Allen’s Fresh and Newport.  We will also pause along the county’s winding roads to see homes that were occupied by famous personalities like Olivia Floyd, the Confederate spy, and Michael Stone Robertson, the gallant captain who died leading his men into battle.

By the end of the day, you will have experienced a unique opportunity to step back into time and sense what it was like to live in Charles County during the four most turbulent years of our nation’s history.

We will disembark our bus at these points of interest:

1. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Piney Parish, Waldorf
2. St. Mary’s Catholic Church:  Bryantown
3. St. Mary’s Newport Catholic Church, Charlotte Hall
4. Village of Port Tobacco (also our lunch stop)
5. St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Chapel Point
6. Rich Hill, Bel Alton, MD

Our Guide:  Garth Bowling, educator, historian and author

Cost:  (bus, lunch and guide) is $50 for Round Table members and $60 for non-members during early bird registration by March 8, 2022 (our monthly meeting date).  Thereafter, the cost is $55 for members and $65 for non-members.

Itinerary:  Saturday, April 16, 2022

• Depart from Maryland Veterans Museum, Newburg, MD:     9:00am
• Return to Veteran’s Museum, Newburg, MD                                 5:00pm

To sign up for the tour, or for additional information, contact Ben Sunderland, SOMDCWRT President at 443-975-9142 or via email at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org

website:  https://somdcwrt.org