February 2021 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

February 9 , 2021

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its February meeting will take place virtually on Tuesday February 9, 2021 at 7:00pm from your computer. Due to continuing concerns over the COVID 19 virus and in the interest of member health and safety, we are moving our meeting on line for the immediate future. Members should be checking their email for directions on how to connect to the meeting on February 9, 2021 at 7pm. Not a member! Please reach out to us at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org to learn how to become a member.

Guest Speaker:  Ron Kirkwood

Ron Kirkwood is the author of “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg.” The book was published by Savas Beatie in hardcover in June 2019 and went into its second printing in October 2019. It came out in paperback in January 2021 and an audio version will be released in February.

Kirkwood argues in “Too Much for Human Endurance” that the George Spangler farm was the most important farm in the Battle of Gettysburg, revealing factors that have long been overlooked. The book also presents newly found information about Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead’s time at the XI Corps hospital at Spangler, the Granite Schoolhouse hospital, the Spanglers, the Artillery Reserve and stories of the suffering and heroism of the surgeons, nurses, wounded and mortally wounded at the two hospitals on the Spanglers’ land. 

Kirkwood is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines including USA TODAY, the Baltimore Sun, the Harrisburg Patriot-News and the York (PA) Daily Record. He edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports and was National Football League editor for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. He managed the copy desk in Harrisburg when the newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. Kirkwood is a Michigan native and graduate of Central Michigan University, where he has returned as guest speaker to journalism classes as part of the school’s Hearst Visiting Professionals series. 

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org or at 443-975-9142. We look forward to seeing you!