There are four items this month for the Speaker’s Fund. The first is a copy of A Narrative of the Great Revival Which Prevailed in the Southern Armies by Rev. William W. Bennett, a Confederate chaplain and wartime superintendent of the Soldiers’ Tract Association. The second item is a copy of I’ll Sting If I Can: The Life and Prison Letters of Major N. F. Cheairs, C. S. A. edited by our own Dr. Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes. I include I’ll Sting… this month because we’re on the eve of the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Donelson in which Major Cheairs played an important role and where he was captured the first time. The third item is a copy of another anniversary book so to speak, a 150th anniversary book, America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink by Kenneth M. Stampp. One hundred and fifty years ago this year James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge became President and Vice President respectively, the Kansas statehood debate still raged, there was the Mormon War, and a TERRIBLE economic crisis that made the sectional tension seem even worse. Win this one and you can read about the year that unfolded a hundred and fifty years ago. The fourth item is all seven issues of Civil War Times Illustrated for 2002 with articles on such subjects as the Robert E. Lee of the movie “Gods and Generals,” the Battle of Stones River, John C. Calhoun, Island No. 10, and Jeb Stuart’s ride around McClellan during the Pensinula Campaign. Three of the four items this month were donated to the Round Table to support the Speaker’s Fund. To those donors go our thanks. Proceeds from the Speaker’s Fund go toward bringing speakers in from outside the area. Your support of the Speaker’s Fund is appreciated.

The new staff at the Chattanooga Regional History Museum is trying to revitalize the David Gray History Fair. As a part of that, they have asked the Round Table to again participate as we used to, that is sponsor a prize or two to recognize the best entry or two related to the Civil War. The History Fair is still tied to the National History Day competition so with only six weeks or so before this year’s fair on March 3rd. I can’t say that we can expect to see a great number of War Between the States related exhibits this year, but if we participate this year and let them know we’d be interested for next year too, I’m sure the fact that the Round Table is sponsoring a special prize for a Civil War theme entry can be included in the literature for 2008’s fair. We can discuss this at the meeting this month.

N. B. Forrest Camp No. 3, Sons of Confederate Veterans, will again hold a Lee-Jackson Banquet to recognize the birthdays of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson. This year, the banquet has added meaning because it is the 200th anniversary of General Lee’s birth. The banquet will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 7 PM at historic Lee and Gordon Mills in Chickamauga. Mr. Mike Brown of the Rome SCV camp will be the speaker. He will present a program on Washington University President Lee’s tour of Georgia in 1870, just shortly before his death. If you would like to attend, contact N. B. Forrest Camp Adjutant (and Round Table member) Terry Siler at Tenncoastie@aol.com.

Last month, December, was the seventh month in the experiment of distributing the Canister by email. I’m still working on learning how to do some things, like inserting graphics and imported text, and last month proved again I’ve still got a few hurdles to overcome since my promised scanning help didn’t pan out (being flat on my back sick for three and a half days didn’t help either). But, maybe on that front I’m about in control of my own resources. I inherited a scanner while traveling through six states to torture relatives by inflicting an eleven year old on them so once I get it hooked and I figure out how to use it, then maybe I can be beyond that problem…… We’ll see.

I know Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield is a long way away from Chattanooga (how many folks have visited there?), but some of the soldiers who fought there eventually wound up fighting here – Gordon Granger (where he also spent time playing artillerist instead of doing what was really expected of him), the First and Second Arkansas Mounted Rifles (before they were “Dismounted”), Bledsoe’s Missouri Battery, Peter J. Osterhaus, and others. And, the way the National Park Service does “public comment” these days, we of the “Civil War community” really need to participate in the National Park Service planning process and offer ideas and comments that go toward helping preserve and interpret the NPS Civil War sites. If we don’t, the local folks who want more ball fields and mountain bike trails will have a lot easier time getting those things, probably at the detriment of the preservation and interpretation of the historic site…….have you tried visiting Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park on a Saturday or Sunday…….AND, within the next year, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will begin the process for a new General Management Plan and if you spend a few minutes on this Wilson’s Creek request, it will start getting you practiced for the “home town” effort. What Wilson’s Creek is soliciting comments on right now is two relatively minor revisions of their own General Management Plan. Wilson’s Creek has recently acquired a few more acres of the battlefield in the Confederate staging area and where some of the early fighting in the battle occurred. They are amending the GMP to bring that area under the same type of management as most of the rest of the battlefield. The other issue has to do with how to handle the recently acquired Sweeney Civil War Museum – keep it in the separate structure where it is; consolidate it with the recently expanded Visitor Center, etc. They’d like folks’ thoughts. To learn more and potentially offer comment, you can find information at http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Select “Wilson’s Creek NB” in the drip-down list at that site and then “General Management Plan Amendment.” There’s a way to comment right at the site or you can email the Superintendent at T_John_Hillmer@nps.gov (that’s T(underscore)John(underscore)Hillmer@nps.gov).