There are four items this month for the Speaker’s Fund. The first is a copy of August Willich’s Gallant Dutchmen: Civil War Letters from the 32nd Indiana Infantry translated and edited by Joseph R. Reinhart. Published late last year, this volume presents letter from a mostly German regiment raised by one of most radical of Union officers and one which charged up the slopes of Missionary Ridge just north of our meeting place. The second item is a copy of Dr. Nat Hughes’ Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman & Johnston since this month is the 143rd anniversary of that Tar Heel State fight. The third item is The Blue & the Gray on the Silver Screen: More Than 80 Years of Civil War Movies by Roy Kinnard. Dozens of WBTS-themed movies, some well known like The Great Locomotive Chase and some not well known like The Raid about the Confederate Secret Service raid on St. Albans, Vermont, are briefly described and reviewed. Did you know that John Mosby even played himself in one? The fourth item is six issues of Civil War Times Illustrated for 2004 with articles on such subjects as life aboard the Monitor, Burnside and Longstreet in East Tennessee, the Crater, and the importance of blacksmiths (really farriers) to Civil War armies. 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.

At the January meeting, the members present decided to again support the Chattanooga Regional History Museum’s David Gray History Fair. The Round Table agreed to sponsor a first prize of $30.00 and a second prize of $20.00 for the two best entries on a Civil War subject. The History Fair was March 3rd the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Student Center. Since the Museum had asked me to serve as a judge anyway, I also judged for the Round Table. As always, because of the different categories—exhibits, presentations, papers, etc.—it wasn’t possible to see all of the entries. I judged the exhibits. There were a total of forty-four. There were only three directly related to the Civil War. Selecting a recipient for the first prize was easy. A student who has participated for a number of years and who has in the past won at the local and state levels and has competed at the national level in Washington, D. C., was the winner. That student is John French of Tennessee Temple Academy. His subject was on the Union camp in Kentucky, Camp Nelson. Camp Nelson was one of the Union points of concentration in the Bluegrass state early in the war and a lot of Union sympathizing Tennesseans rallied there. Later, it was a base for Union operations in Southeast Kentucky for operations into East Tennessee. In the last part of the war, it was the point of organization for a number of regiments of the United States Colored Troops. I’ve judged the History Fair for many years and this is probably the best exhibit I’ve ever seen there. I can see why John has been able to compete on the national level. I think I’ll see if I can arrange for him to bring it to one of our meetings this spring. The other two Civil War related exhibits were much weaker than even the normal level; one, on Lincoln, by some middle schoolers, was very poor; they didn’t even spell Lincoln’s name correctly and the two students who did it were present but were the most unruly of those who were there; one of the Museum staff even had to move them across the room and make them sit away from everyone else. As a result of this poorer showing on these other two, I did not award a second prize.

For next year, as noted in years past, we need to get the Museum to announce our prizes earlier and probably offer some suggestions on how the designated theme is reflected by the Civil War.

Did anyone make it to the Third Annual Nashville Civil War Conference on Saturday, March 10, 2007 at Travellers Rest Plantation and Museum in Nashville? The theme of Cavalry Operations of the Western Theater was interesting and some of the speakers, including Myers Brown, now of the Tennessee State Museum, who has spoken to us on cavalry subjects, were quite promising. It was probably a worthwhile day for any who were able to attend.

The second of five issues covering the campaign leading up to the Battle of Chickamauga and the battle itself of Blue & Gray Magazine will hit the street in the next week or so. It went to press this past weekend. This second issue in the five part series picks up where the first left off, the Confederate abandonment of Chattanooga and it’s occupation by the Federals on September 9, 1863. Part two begins with coverage of the decision to dispatch Longstreet’s troops from Virginia and then resumes the coverage of the on the ground movements late on September 9. The bulk of the issue covers Bragg’s efforts to strike Rosecrans in McLemore’s Cove and ends with Bragg’s frustrated withdrawal on the night of the 11th. Those who subscribe will see it in their mail boxes; copies appear on a few news stands or you can order individual issues straight from the magazine. Dr. Robertson is already hard at work on part three, September 12 thru 18; it will appear a few months down the road.

April through June 2007 - To be announced.
July 17, 2007 -- IN THE FIELD --
August 13, 2007 - Dr. Glenn LaFantasie, Western Kentucky University, author of Gettysburg Requiem: The Life and Lost Causes of Confederate Colonel William C. Oates (Oxford University Press, 2006), “William C. Oates in War and Peace.” NOTE THE SPECIAL DATE--THE MONDAY BEFORE THE SECOND TUESDAY; this rare change in date is being made to accommodate our speaker’s schedule and to share costs with the Knoxville Civil War Round Table
September 18, 2007 - "Wilder and Walker Fight for Alexander’s Bridge,” an evening walking tour on the Chickamauga Battlefield on the evening of the 144th anniversary of those events; more details later.
October 16, 2007 - Timothy B. Smith, Author, Historian, & Professor of History, University of Tennessee—Martin, “Via the Yazoo Pass?: Grant Strikes, Again, for Vicksburg”
November and December 2007 - To be announced.

NEW ENTRIES:
March 24-25, 2007--Siege at Bridgeport Reenactment, Bridgeport, Alabama; gates open at 10 AM, $5.00 adults, $3.00 seniors, $2.00 children; for more information see www.siegeatbridgeport.com or write Siege of Bridgeport, P. O. Box 280, Bridgeport, Alabama 35740 or call 256-495-3614 or 256-437-8873 or 256-495-2721 or email dghmdh1@bellsouth.net
March 27, 2007--N. B. Forrest Camp No. 3 meeting, special place, 6:30 PM, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library, 1001 Broad Street, so as to hear Ms. Mary Helms, head of the Local History and Genealogy Department
April 10, 2007--Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Historian Frank O’Reilly speaks to the Knoxville Civil War Round Table on the Battle of Malvern Hill; Bearden Banquet Hall, 5809 Kingston Pike, next to Buddy’s BBQ, Knoxville; dinner at 7, talk at 8; call 865-828-8752 or 865-671-9001 for dinner reservations by the Friday before the meeting.
April 13-14, 2007--20th Annual Sultana Disaster Descendant’s Reunion, Athens, Alabama; activities include talks, displays, and visits to such Northwest Alabama places as Fort Henderson and Sulphur Branch Trestle where many of the men who eventually wound up on the Sultana were initially captured; lodging and some food on your own; bus tour and banquet and general registration only about $25.00, deadline March 31; for more information, contact Knoxville CWRT Program Chairman Norman Shaw, nshawatty@hotmail.com or shawclan4@bellsouth.net
September 11, 2007--National Park Service Chief Historian emeritus Ed Bearss speaks to the Knoxville CWRT, subject TBA; Bearden Banquet Hall, 5809 Kingston Pike, next to Buddy’s BBQ, Knoxville; dinner at 7, talk at 8; call 865-828-8752 or 865-671-9001 for dinner reservations by the Friday before the meeting.
October 9, 2007--Dr. Mark Bradley, U. S. Army Center for Military History, speaks to the Knoxville CWRT on “Sherman’s Carolina Campaign and the Battle of Bentonville;” Bearden Banquet Hall, 5809 Kingston Pike, next to Buddy’s BBQ, Knoxville; dinner at 7, talk at 8; call 865-828-8752 or 865-671-9001 for dinner reservations by the Friday before the meeting.
November 13, 2007--Historian and author Dr. Richard McMurry speaks to the Knoxville CWRT on “General in a Jar;” Bearden Banquet Hall, 5809 Kingston Pike, next to Buddy’s BBQ, Knoxville; dinner at 7, talk at 8; call 865-828-8752 or 865-671-9001 for dinner reservations by the Friday before the meeting.

PREVIOUS ENTRIES:
March 15-18, 2007 - Georgia Battlefields Association 2007 Ed Bearss Tour, The Atlanta Campaign, Continued - The Chattahoochee River Crossing, Peachtree Creek, Decatur, for information, see "GBA Tours" or "Annual Tour with Ed Bearss" at http://georgiabattlefields.org/ or email to info@georgiabattlefields.org
March 16-17, 2007--Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group 2007 Seminar in the Woods; two days of WALKING tours of portions of the Chickamauga Battlefield, this year focusing on portions of the action of September 19, 1863; no cost and you are responsible for ALL of your OWN transportation, food, lodging, etc.; for more information, contact Dave Powell at Dpowell334@aol.com
March 31, 2007--"The Legacy of Stones River: Remembering the Civil War” Symposium, Historic Civil War Rutherford County Court House, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, sponsored by Stones River National Battlefield and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area; for more information, visit http://histpres.mtsu.edu/tncivwar or www.nps.gov/stri or www.mtsu.edu/~tah
April 7, 2007--Civil War Preservation Trust Park Work Day; volunteer preservation and maintenance activities at a number of area Civil War sites; more details later; see CWPT’s website for information too at www.civilwar.org.
May 28, 2007--Torchlight Tour of the Civil War Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga National Cemetery, Holtzclaw Avenue, 8:30 PM; more details later [see 2006 Torchlight Tour for last year's event]
September 8-9, 2007--Battle of Tunnel Hill Reenactment, Tunnel Hill, Georgia; for more information, see www.tunnelhillheritagecenter.com or call 706-876-1571
September 15, 2007--War Between the States day, City of Chickamauga, Georgia
November 8-10, 2007--15th Annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression, sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Department of Communications; more details later.