November 2022 Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table Meeting

November 8, 2022

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will be held Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at 7:00pm at The Maryland Veterans Museum, 11000 Crain Highway North, Newburg, MD 20664.

Guest Speaker: Chris Bryan

The II Corps, Army of Virginia suffered a bloody and demoralizing defeat at the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9th, 1862, after initial success where it nearly defeated Stonewall Jackson’s command. This talk will describe the fighting at Cedar Mountain in detail and will also briefly describe the aftermath for the II Corps that summer, which culminated in conspicuous success at Antietam.

Chris Bryan is a native of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. in History, he served as a naval aviator for eight years. He has since worked as a project manager, during which time he earned an M.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland and a Masters in Historic Preservation from the University of Maryland, College Park where his studies focused on architectural investigations of antebellum domestic and agricultural outbuildings in the Chesapeake Bay region. He has remained active with historic preservation and architectural investigations following graduation. Chris Bryan lives in Southern Maryland with his wife and two kids.

We eagerly anticipate your attendance as we all learn a bit more about a battle that some classify as the final battle of the Peninsula Campaign, while others refer to it as the initial battle of Second Manassas. Attendance is free, but membership is encouraged. Please contact is with any questions at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org!

July 14, 2019July 15, 2019

September 2019 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

September 10, 2019

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its eighth year will begin on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 7:00pm at our NEW meeting location, The Maryland Veterans Museum, 11000 Crain Highway North, Newburg, MD 20664.

Guest Speaker: Robert Orrison and Kevin R. Pawlak

You saw it correctly! The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table kicks off its eighth year tonight as Kevin Pawlak and Rob Orrison will discuss their newest book “To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign, 1862“.

Their book traces the routes of the Union and Confederate armies during the Maryland Campaign and the ultimate bloody confrontation on the nearby banks of Antietam Creek. To this day, that clash on September 17, 1862, remains the bloodiest single day in American history. The book also includes several day trip tours and a guide many out-of-the-way sites related to the Maryland Campaign.

Kevin Pawlak is a Historic Site Manager for the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division and works as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam National Battlefield. Kevin also sits on the Board of Directors of the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. He is the author of Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital published by The History Press in 2015 and ‘The Heaviest Blow Yet Given the Confederacy’: The Emancipation Proclamation Changes the Civil War in Turning Points of the Civil War, part of Emerging Civil War’s Engaging the Civil War Series with Southern Illinois University Press.

Born and raised in Loudoun County, Virginia, Rob Orrison received his Bachelor’s Degree in Historic Preservation at Longwood College and received his Master’s Degree in Public History from George Mason University. Currently Rob serves as the Division Manager for the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division. Outside of work Rob serves on the Board of Directors of the Mosby Heritage Area Association, Board of Directors of Virginia Civil War Trails; and serves as the Vice President of the Virginia Association of Museums. His published works include: A Want of Vigilance: The Bristoe Station Campaign; The Last Road North: A Guide to the Gettysburg Campaign 1863; In A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution, April 19, 1775; To Hazard All: Guide to the 1862 Maryland Campaign.

Please come out and join us as we remember the coming anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War. As always, attendance is free, but membership is recommended. 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!

July 31, 2017

September 2017 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

September 12, 2017

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Joseph Stahl

For those that joined us on our 2016 Spring Field Trip to Antietam, tonight’s speaker will be very familiar. For those that did not, you are in for a treat, as our guide from our survey of Antietam, Joseph Stahl, returns to speak to us about Union ID discs, as The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table kicks off its sixth (6th) season.

The presentation “Union ID Discs” will introduce information on the history, types and makers of the “metals” as they were called in the Civil War. These discs were bought by the soldiers as they were not government issue. Examples of most of the major types of discs will be shown and information about each of the owners of the discs will be included. The discs will be on display at the presentation.

Joseph Stahl retired from the Institute for Defense Analyses where he authored or co-authored more that 50 reports on defense issues. Since his retirement he has become a volunteer and Licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam. He grew up in St. Louis, where he earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians, SHAF, the Hagerstown Civil War Roundtable and is co-author of the first book on ID discs Identification Discs of Union Soldiers in the Civil War. He has spoken to various Civil War groups including the Northern Virginia Relic Hunters, South Mountain Coin and Relic Club, Rappahannock, York, Chambersburg and Hagerstown Round Tables, Chambersburg Civil War Tours, Save Historic Antietam Foundation and the NPS Antietam. In addition Joe has authored more that two dozen articles about items in his collections for the Gettysburg Magazine, the Washington Times Civil War Page, Manuscripts, America’s Civil War, Military Collector & Historian the Journal of the Company of Military Historians, the Civil War Historian and the Skirmish Line of the North-South Skirmish Association. Displays of items from of his collection have won awards at several Civil War shows.

Mr. Stahl also has been a member of the North-South Skirmish Association for more than 20 years and has shot civil war type muskets, carbines and revolvers in both individual and team competitions.

Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Brad Gottfried, at bradgottfried@yahoo.com or 862-268-5576.

April 12, 2016

May 2016 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

May 10, 2016

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Bradley Gottfried

As we eagerly anticipate our annual field trip; this year to the Antietam National Battlefield, Round Table President Brad Gottfried will get us ready for our great adventure on Saturday, May 14th. Author of the book, “The Maps of Antietam“, join us as Dr. Gottfried provide his unique insight, analysis and perspective of the battle that marked Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North. Bruised and battered after a long spring and summer of battles on the Virginia peninsula and at Manassas, the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee decides to seize momentum and move the theater of battle away from his native state and give the north a taste of the conflict. An audacious gambit indeed, that if successful might bring a negotiated peace and Southern independence. Meanwhile, The Army of the Potomac has just had its beloved leader, Gen. George B. McClellan, restored to overall command, in an attempt to boost troop morale and blunt the advances of the Confederate Army. The result of these two behemoth’s clashing in the Maryland countryside on September 17, 1862 was one of the bloodiest days in American History.

Battle of Antietam - The New York Times

Not able to go on the field trip! That’s OK! Come on out anyway and hear Brad as he lays out the important events that took place prior to, during and in the aftermath of a battle that would ultimately make the Battle of Antietam arguably one of the most significant battles ever fought. Dunker Church! The Cornfield! The Sunken Road! Burnside Bridge! Dr. Gottfried will cover them and whet our appetites for the sites we shall see on the field.

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table invites all to attend this lecture on a battle fought on our own soil! Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Brad Gottfried, at bgottfried@csmd.edu or 301-934-7625.