September Meeting Information

September 16th, 2026 – Our 241st meeting. We continue our twenty second year!!!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, September 16th, 2026 at our new home Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street. This is next to Mericourt Park Baseball Complex just east of the Montgomery County Government Complex. The meeting room is just inside the covered entry way.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public. Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

Our NEW home is terrific!

This month’s program – In Search of Chauncey Cooke and His World: How A Young Union Soldier’s Letters Help Us Understand the Civil War

At age 16 Chauncey Cooke lied about his age and enlisted in the Union Army in Buffalo County, Wisconsin joining the 25th Wisconsin Infantry. The Cookes were pioneer settlers of the area, and his father was an outspoken opponent of slavery. Young Cooke served until 1864 when he was discharged due to illness. He then taught in Freedmen’s schools in Texas until he returned home to farm. He wrote to his family members very regularly and his letters cover a broad range of areas that shed light on the experience of private soldiers. From his fear of being found out at his mustering in he shares his varied experiences. He was, for example, very unhappy to be initially sent to Fort Snelling to suppress Indians – he sympathized and admired the natives he had encountered and that was not why he had enlisted. The 25th Wisconsin was sent to Columbus, Kentucky where it stayed for some time. In addition to descriptions of camp life—he meets African Americans for the first time. His letters home are filled with descriptions of those he meets – all of whom he compares to characters in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

This program will discuss how our speaker found Chauncey as part of a project at Columbus Belmont State Park and later began a quest to understand him and his world by spending some time in Buffalo County. Besides an overview of his service, our speaker will read some of the letters and discuss what they add to our understanding of the enlisted soldier’s experience during the war.

Our speaker this month is William Mulligan who is professor of history emeritus at Murray State University, where he taught from 1993 to 2022. From 1993 to 2013 he was also Director of the Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute. In that role he and his graduate students carried out a number of projects in west Kentucky, many with a Civil War focus, especially at Columbus Belmont State Park and in McLean County. In addition, he wrote the National Register Nomination for the battlefield at Sacramento, Kentucky.

He was a member of the State Historic Preservation Review Board for twenty years and served on a number of state and regional commissions and task forces, including the National Park Service Lower Mississippi Valley Civil War Taskforce. He has published a number of articles on the Civil War in western Kentucky in the Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society and several encyclopedias. He edited Badger Boy in Blue: The Civil War Letters of Chauncey H. Cooke. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2007.) In 2012 the Wall Street Journal listed it as one of the Five Best Books by the Homesick.

We are very fortunate to have Dr. Mulligan come and speak to us and we thank him for his long service and dedication to the Civil War in Western Kentucky

August Meeting Information!

August 19th, 2026 – Our 240th meeting.  We continue our twenty second year!!!    

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, August 19th, 2026 at our new home Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street.  This is next to Mericourt Park Baseball Complex just east of the Montgomery County Government Complex.  The meeting room is just inside the covered entry way.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.  

This month’s program – “The Controversial Confederate Attack Plan at Shiloh and Its Effect on the First Day’s Battle.”

Confederate forces launched a preemptive attack at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6, 1862, hoping to overwhelm Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant. The cause of their failure in the epic battle of Shiloh has now been analyzed for over 160 years. It has been so often repeated that Confederate failure stemmed from their faulty battle plan as to become accepted doctrine. Is this true? A good deal of mystery still surrounds the Confederate battle plan. 

David Stewart’s presentation will examine origin of the battle plan, and the way in which dynamics of the Confederate high command may have impacted battle plan, along with external factors such as Federal movements and weather which were also contributory. We will also look at the degree to which the Confederate battle plan did, or did not, impede their prosecution of the offensive on April 6, 1862. 

David E. Stewart graduated from Florence State University with a double major in psychology and history. He subsequently pursued graduate studies at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, where he obtained an M. Ed. Degree with emphasis in rehabilitation. David founded a private consulting firm, Ascendant Consulting, Inc., in 1990. He served over 30 years an expert witness in liability cases in the area of special damages, testifying in courts throughout the Southeast and Midwest. 

From his early years David had an interest in American history, which over time became more focused on the Civil War. A dedicated Civil War buff, David has visited virtually all of the major Civil War battlefields.  

Twenty years ago, David began leading battlefield tours at Shiloh National Military Park. His website is http://www. shilohcivilwartours.com.  The tour guide endeavor has included hundreds of individual/small group tours, tours for Civil War Roundtable groups, tours for corporate management groups, Army staff rides, and riverboat cruise lines. 

David’s interest in the Battle of Shiloh led to an interest in Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of Confederate forces at Shiloh. He is now engaged in writing a book concerning General Johnston’s role in the American Civil War and, specifically, his leadership at Shiloh. During this process David has visited Johnston’s birthplace on the banks of the Ohio River. He has made numerous trips to Nashville, to Bowling Green and Columbus, Kentucky, to Forts Henry and Donelson, and all the major Civil War battlefields relating to General Johnston’s career.

June Meeting Notice!

June 17th, 2026 – Our 238th meeting.  We continue our twenty second year!!!    

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, June 17th, 2026 at our new home Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street.  This is next to Mericourt Park Baseball Complex just east of the Montgomery County Government Complex.  The meeting room is just inside the covered entry way.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed. 

Do not go to Fort Defiance as we no longer meet there!  We very much appreciate them hosting us for so long!  Our NEW home is terrific!

This month’s program – “Perryville: The Southern End of the Battle”

When one thinks of the Battle of Perryville, images of the Open Knob and Starkweather’s Ridge come to mind. The Confederate attack along this portion of the Union line was ferocious and is probably the most discussed part of the battlefield.  However, the southern flank of the battlefield also saw ferocious fighting and some of the Confederate army’s most significant gains of the day. Only nightfall brought an end to the southern advance.  While Braxton Bragg’s Army of the Mississippi won a tactical victory, the campaign ended in a strategic withdrawal back to Middle Tennessee.

Our speaker, Derrick Lindow, has spoken to us before about Adam Rankin Johnson and his 10^th Kentucky Partisan Rangers.  He was an 8th grade US history teacher for 16 years but will be teaching high school US history starting in the fall. He has a BA in history from Kentucky Wesleyan College and a master’s in history from Western Kentucky University. He was the 2019 James Madison Fellow for the state of Kentucky. He is the author of We Shall Conquer or Die: Partisan Warfare in 1862 Western Kentucky published by Savas Beatie and is currently working on his second book covering the early months of the war in the Western Theater. He is the owner of the Western Theater in the Civil War website and cohost of the Department No. 2 Podcast.

We thank Derrick for coming down this month as our original speaker could not make it at this time.  He is involved in the forthcoming Battle of Richmond, KY tour – details below.

Special Guest Speaker for this month’s meeting – Montgomery County Mayor Wes Golden.  Wes will be speaking to us about Civil War preservation efforts ongoing in Montgomery County.  If you have any ideas of county sites that need to be discussed, please bring them with you and let’s talk to Wes about them.   

May Meeting of the Clarksville CWRT

May 20th, 2026 – Our 237th meeting.  We continue our twenty second year!!!    

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 at our new home Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street.  This is next to Mericourt Park Baseball Complex just east of the Montgomery County Government Complex.  The meeting room is just inside the covered entry way.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed. 

Do not go to Fort Defiance as we no longer meet there!  We very much appreciate them hosting us for so long!  Our NEW home is terrific!

This month’s program – “The Scott Boys From East Tennessee”

Roane County in East Tennessee was located in an area of very large Union sympathies. County seat Kingston, once Tennessee’s state capital (for a day), was an important location on the Tennessee and Clinch River confluence. While the Unionist predilection was powerful, there were still some Confederate sympathizers in the county. The Scott Brothers, six men who would fight in the war (Robert, James, Elisha, Israel, John R, Billy), were divided between those sympathies which plays into the mantra of “brother against brother.” Two joined the Confederacy and the rest the Union with one brother losing his life. This family and their story have inspired a novel by S. Scott Anderson and his book “The Scott Boys – A Civil War Novel Inspired by Actual Events.” Our speaker this month will give us the details on this family, their exploits and their tragedies.

Members of the family fought at Vicksburg, Resaca in Georgia and Franklin. Some were captured and did time at Belle Isle in Richmond, VA as well as Cahaba in Alabama with the horrific tragedy of the Sultana factoring into one of the brother’s lives. Anderson has used pension records, family letters and Bibles to weave his narrative.

An inveterate reader, history student and global traveler, S. Scott Anderson relies on his real world experiences to provide substance to the characters in his works. While not a normal career path, studying journalism eventually led Anderson into a career as a construction equipment executive. A lifelong writer and photographer, he focuses on automotive history, creative fiction, and historically inspired unique stories since retiring. Anderson lives in Tennessee, where his family has been since the early 1700s; yet he remains a voyager constantly exploring new opportunities and vistas. You will likely find him at historic car gatherings, small vineyards, and history shows Please join us for this personal look at an East Tennessee family and how the Civil War affected their lives. Our speaker will have copies of his book for sale at the meeting.

April Meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Round Table

April 15th, 2026 – Our 236th meeting.  We continue our twenty second year!!!    

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 at our new home Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street.  This is next to Mericourt Park Baseball Complex just east of the Montgomery County Government Complex.  The meeting room is just inside the covered entry way.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed. 

Do not go to Fort Defiance as we no longer meet there!  We very much appreciate them hosting us for so long!  Our NEW home is terrific!

This month’s meeting will be run by our Vice President, Marc Breslow!

This month’s program – “Civil War Spies”

Espionage is age-old in human history but especially in military history.  Agents from one nation would be sent to an enemy nation to find out the secrets of that nation and report back to the nation the spy was working for.  This included diplomatic, military and industrial espionage, all of which continues today.  Spies were a large part of the Civil War.  They listened while generals and other officers made plans for battle. They invented secret codes to communicate with their handlers and other spies. Several slaves were spies for both the Union and the Confederates. Some were famous and some were infamous, while others were hidden in the shadows. Some were put in prison, and some were convicted of spying and hung.  This month’s program is about the varied and sometimes hair-raising stories of some of the Civil War spies.  Our speaker this month is our own Steven Currie.

Steven Currie spent his career developing software and managing software systems. He is now retired and lives with his wife and three cats in Woodlawn. He has had a lifelong interest in history, starting in grade school with Greek and Roman history.  One Christmas when he was a child, he received a Civil War board game where the players could be the general for the North or the South. That sparked an interest in the Civil War. Steven has been able to visit the battlefields at Stones River, Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga. He is a member of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable and has been for several years.

Please make plans to join us for this fascinating program.

March 2026 Meeting!

March 18th, 2026 – Our 235th meeting.  We begin our twenty second year!!!    

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 at our new home Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street.  This is next to Mericourt Park Baseball Complex just east of the Montgomery County Government Complex.  The meeting room is just inside the covered entry way.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed. 

Do not go to Fort Defiance as we no longer meet there!  We very much appreciate them hosting us for so long!  Our NEW home is terrific!

This month’s program – “Thaddeus Lowe, Civil War Balloonist”

Born in August 1832, in New Hampshire, Thaddeus Lowe would emerge as one of America’s best scientists and inventors.  By the time of the Civil War, Lowe worked deeply in meteorology but retained a growing interest in aeronautics or ballooning.  Derided by many, Lowe foresaw the use of balloons in aerial reconnaissance thus allowing for viewing Confederate troop positions without needed high hills or even mountains to do the same.  Ballons could be moved around and Lowe offered his services in July 1861 when he was given the title of Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Baloon Corps by President Lincoln.  Lowe had experimented with balloons before the war and thus was the perfect choice to run this new command.  He included in these the concepts of trans-Atlantic flight using the high altitude winds that had been discovered (now called the Trade Winds).

 Most famous for doing recon for George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, Lowe soon left the service in 1863 in a dispute over how his unit was to operate as well as pay issues.  He returned to civilian life and invented a number of patented items that would make him a millionaire and find him relocating to California where he passed away in January 1913.

This month’s presentation highlights Lowe’s unique inventions during and after the Civil War. His vision for a Balloon Corps in the Union Army was received enthusiastically by some and rejected by others. His creativity and perseverance were admirable traits, and an inspiration to many.

Cheryl McAuley is the past president of the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table in Huntsville, Alabama. Cheryl holds an undergraduate degree in piano performance from West Chester University (1975), a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in public management from George Mason University (1996), a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College (2005), and a Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership from University of Phoenix (2016).

In her civilian career, she served as an intelligence analyst and later led civilians and military members assigned to the Department of Defense (War) at the Pentagon and Washington Navy Yard. As an Army National Guard soldier and Army Reservist of 30 yrs, Cheryl served in the enlisted, commissioned and warrant ranks, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, Military Intelligence Branch. After 9-11, she was deployed to the Horn of Africa (2004) and later volunteered for a one-year tour in Baghdad, Iraq (2009-2010). She retired from government and military in 2010.

Cheryl is a published author who chronicled her 2017 journey of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa with her husband, John of 40 years. She also wrote two books which contain her memoirs and lessons learned (2019, 2025). All three of them are on Amazon and available in paperback and Kindle. The royalties from each book go to three different charities. During COVID, she developed a program about Professor Thaddeus Lowe, an Aeronaut in the American Civil War. She enjoys presenting the information to adult continuing education groups, history groups, and Civil War Round Tables.

She was honored to be invited to join the Board of Directors of the Civil War Round Table Congress, a nationwide nonprofit of volunteers who are focused on helping CWRTs grow, while achieving and maintaining sustainability.

Please make plans to join us for this fascinating program.

December Reminder

Just a reminder that we will not be meeting in December due to it being so close to Christmas. We start back in January in our new home at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church which is located at 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street!

November Meeting!

November 19th, 2025 – Our 232nd meeting.  We continue our twenty first year!!!     The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 at Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, 120 Duncan Street, off New Providence Blvd.  Turn onto Walker Street off New Providence Blvd. and then onto Duncan Street.  There are site markers on New Providence Blvd above and below the park. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.     BREAKING NEWS!!!!!! This will be our final meeting at Fort Defiance.  Changes in how the city is running that site means that we needed a new location for our meetings. Thankfully we have three members who belong to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church which is located at 1410 Golf Club Lane just off Madison Street, and they alerted me about the church being a meeting site.  Karel and I went there today and the room they are offering is outstanding!  Great acoustics, comfy chairs, and their own audio/visual set-up plus a large parking lot and an easy one-floor walk into the church with a covered drop-off area very similar to what we had at the Bone And Joint office.  We can sell our books there, have refreshments etc.  They are not charging us for the room but I would like to pass the hat each meeting for donations from attendees as an offering to their church for having us. That will be our new home starting in January 2026!  This is easy to find (not far from the main library) and we can hopefully grow our membership in our new home.  The Montgomery County Historical Society has been meeting here for a couple years albeit in a different part of the church, and they are happy with the location.  So – hope you like the new meeting location as much as Karel and I did seeing it today! Lastly, no meeting in December as the date is too close to Christmas so January 2026 is when we will start meeting the new location. A huge THANK YOU to all the members who stepped up and offered suggestions for meeting locations!  It meant the world to us that you wanted to help!   This month’s program – “Martha Ready Morgan: From Wife to Widow in 630 Days” From our speaker:  “Mattie Ready was a woman ahead of her time!  Having grown up just down the street from where she lived and was married, I became intrigued with her persona at a very early age.  And, in a college history class, she was my subject for a term paper.  As my research introduced me to this beautiful and incredible young woman, the more I came to admire her courage and respect her dignity, most of all her strength, in very difficult times and situations.  She was truly a most extraordinary young woman for that day and time.  The dashing, daring, celebrated General John Hunt Morgan would not have married just anybody.  He was from a wealthy, aristocratic Bluegrass Kentucky background and greatly admired throughout the hard-pressed Southland as its most celebrated hero.  In her own mid-nineteenth century way Mattie Ready was the bold-riding General’s match in every aspect.  And “The Thunderbolt of the Confederacy” was captured by her charms and fell in love for probably the first time in his life with “Murfreesboro’s Own Southern Belle.”  She found the kinder, gentler, and very loving heart of this great cavalryman and the intense love they shared would change both of their lives forever.”   Civil War historian, Author, and former WQJZ radio host of “Murfreesboro History 101, Ms. Jones retired from Middle Tennessee State University, where she had been a staff member for more than thirty years.   She has served as President of the Rutherford County Historical Society, the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, Friends of Stones River National Battlefield, and the Martha Ready Morgan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  She is one of the founding members of both the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield and the Middle Tennessee Civil War Round Table.  In addition, she holds membership in Daughters of the American Colonists, Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames of the 17th Century, and U.S. Daughters of 1812.   A direct descendant of two Confederate great-grandfathers, she has had numerous Civil War related articles published over the past four decades and is the author of six books.   Ms. Jones has done extensive research on Martha Ready Morgan, including work for artist John Paul Strain in 1993 for his limited-edition print, “Morgan’s Wedding.”   The role of women of the 19th Century has always been of particular interest, and she has presented programs to various heritage groups, high school students, and teaching classes and lectures on a volunteer basis.  Ms. Jones is a lifelong resident of Murfreesboro, a graduate of Knox Business College, Middle Tennessee State University, and Leadership Rutherford.  She and her late husband, Jerry Jones were the parents of one son, Jeff, and one grandson, Kyle and her little dogs, Chico and Sitka We hope you join us for this fascinating program.     FUTURE PROGRAMS January 2026 – Ross Hudgins, historian/author – “Maggie Vaulx and the Great Panic in Nashville” February 2026 – Ross Massey, historian/author – “McFadden’s Bend in the Stones River Campaign” March 2026 – Cheryl McCauley, historian/author – “Thaddeus Lowe, Civil War Balloonist” May 2026 – Scott Mingus, historian/author – topic TBA No date scheduled – Robert Jenkins, historian/author – “The Cassville Affairs,” based on his new book.  Some of our speakers are authors and bring books to sell at our meetings.  Please support them by buying their books.   IMPORTANT-  MEMBERS AND DUES DUES WERE DUE AT THE JULY 2025 MEETING.  WHEN YOU ARE CURRENT YOU WILL GET A NEW CWRT MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. We would love to have you join us!  If you have friends interested in the Civil War, please bring them along.  Thank you to those of you who paid your dues at the Dover Civil War show this past weekend. CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS Annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show – Saturday-Sunday, December 6-7. 2025 in Franklin, TN. The nation’s largest Civil War show will once again be held in Franklin, TN at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park, 4215 Long Lane, Franklin, TN.  This is just off I-65 at Exit 61, Goose Creek Bypass/Peytonsville Road.  The center is on the left side and has ample parking.  Show hours on Saturday are 9 AM to 5 PM and Sunday, 9 AM to 3 PM.  The 800 tables will feature relics, weapons, photographs, flags, uniforms, books and much more! This show draws dealers and buyers from across the country so stop on by and be ready to spend the day geeking out on Civil War history – and some World War Two as well.  Click Here to Purchase a Copy

September Meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Round Table

September 17th, 2025 – Our 230th meeting.  We continue our twenty first year!!!    

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, September 17th, 2025 at Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, our new home, 120 Duncan Street, off New Providence Blvd.  Turn onto Walker Street off New Providence Blvd. and then onto Duncan Street.  There are site markers on New Providence Blvd above and below the park.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.  Members, please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.  

This month’s program – “Captain William S. Cain, 12th United States Colored Troops and His Civil War”

The 12th United States Colored Troops was raised in Middle Tennessee in mid-1863 with many of the men in their ranks being former laborers who built the fortifications around Nashville.  After forming and drilling, one of the regiment’s first jobs, along with the 13th USCT, was to help build the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad heading to Johnsonville on the Tennessee River from Kingston Springs just west of Nashville.  The 12th’s first major combat action was in the Battle of Nashville as part of Cruft’s Provisional Division which attacked Overton Hill.  While not successful, their bravery in the assault elicited notices from troops and officers of both sides.  This month’s program will provide an inside look at this regiment from one of its officers, Captain William S. Cain.   

In 1908, Captain William S. Cain, Company C, 12th USCT, decided to write a brief autobiography on himself and several relatives for his family posterity. The advent of the Civil War drew William and his brothers in on the side of the Union. He enrolled in the 8th Kansas  Infantry on September 10, 1861. He was promoted as 1st Lieutenant, 1st Regiment USCT Infantry, under Colonel Charles Thompson, as Adjutant, and in 1863 was appointed Captain of Company C, 12th USCT, July 5, 1864, at Nashville. Later, as an officer of U.S. Colored troops, he wrote, “my association with the officers was very pleasant. They were all men of more than average culture, all had to pass a rigid examination before a board of generals in the school of the soldier, company, and battalion. Our Chaplain was a Christian churchman, and a good educator for our ignorant soldiers – all ex-slaves.”

This brief intriguing missive from Captain William S. Cain led to more detailed research in looking for any references to this brave regiment that played a part in the battle of Nashville. The result opens the door to, hopefully, more research.

Our speaker this month is Howard Mann.  Howard is a longtime student of the war and is past president of the Kansas City CWRT and current president of the Nashville CWRT.  He has spoken to us before and offers very well researched programs.

We hope you will join us for this program which has significant local importance.

July Meeting!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 at Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, our new home, 120 Duncan Street, off New Providence Blvd.  Turn onto Walker Street off New Providence Blvd. and then onto Duncan Street.  There are site markers on New Providence Blvd above and below the park.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public.   

Dues are due this month for the 2025-2026 season.  Please be sure to pay this month so I can budget for speakers easier.

This month’s program – “The Battle of Newtonia, Missouri”

        The First Battle of Newtonia took place on September 30, 1862, near Newtonia, Missouri, during the Civil War. The engagement involved Confederate forces under the command of Colonel Douglas H. Cooper and a Union column led by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon. Cooper’s troops had advanced into southwestern Missouri and established a camp near Newtonia. The Confederate contingent consisted mainly of cavalry under Colonel Joseph O. Shelby and a brigade of Native Americans. In response, a Union force commanded by Brigadier General James G. Blunt mobilized to engage Cooper’s position, with Salomon leading the advance.

            On September 29, Salomon’s Union force approached Newtonia and initiated an attack against the Confederates on September 30. A preliminary Union assault under Colonel Edward Lynde was repelled by Cooper’s forces in the morning. Both armies received additional reinforcements, resulting in protracted and dynamic fighting throughout the afternoon. Near dusk, the Confederates launched a significant offensive that compelled Salomon to withdraw his forces from the battlefield. The retreat was covered by militia led by Colonel George Hall; however, artillery fire from the Confederate side disrupted the withdrawal, causing portions of the Union force to become disorganized. Reported Union casualties range from 245 to more than 400, while Confederate casualties numbered 78. In early October, as Blunt’s full division advanced toward Newtonia, Cooper elected to withdraw his forces from Missouri.

Our speaker this month is Michael Manning who has spoken to us before about the war in the Indian Territory

Michael Manning is the retired Chief Park Ranger of Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Tennessee. He retired after a 32-year career with the National Park Service specializing in law enforcement and historic military interpretation. In addition, he has served as a Park Ranger at other NPS areas including Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Alabama; Fort Larned National Historic Site, Kansas: and Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska. He began his military historical interpretation career as a volunteer Historic Site Attendant at Fort Gibson State Historic Site, Oklahoma, while he was a student at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He also possesses a M.A. degree in Military Studies (Land Warfare) /w Honors, from the American Military University, Charles Town, West Virginia. Mike served as an enlisted petty officer in the U.S. Navy Seabees and later as a commissioned officer of the Military Police Corps of the U.S. Army Reserves. He was also an honor graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. His research focus is the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi West with a specialization of the war in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Be sure to watch for his upcoming book, “They Fought Like Veterans:” The Military History of the Civil War in the Indian Territory,” upcoming within the next year.

 We hope you will join us for this fine program on the war in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.

Greg Biggs/President and Program Chair