Over two million, probably closer to two and a half million, rounds of small arms and a little over three thousand rounds of artillery ammunition—that’s a best guess estimate of how many rounds of ammunition Braxton Bragg’s re-enforced Army of Tennessee expended in the Battle of Chickamauga based the various surviving, but incomplete, reports. That’s a lot of lead and iron put down range. That means a lot of powder was needed to put that amount of lead and iron down range, over fifteen tons, over 30,000 pounds. That’s just for one battle. Overall, the army of the Confederate States of America required A LOT of powder. Where they got it, particularly after the first year or so of the war, is one of the Confederate States’ great, but usually overlooked, success stories. And Chattanooga has a role in making that success possible. Some of the iron parts needed, including the segments of the giant drive shaft that drove parts of the plant, were made in Chattanooga at the Webster Foundry which was located then near what is today King and 13th and Market streets. Also, some of the raw materials came from our region too, a subject we’ve had a speaker on in the past. What that success was is the Confederate States Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia.

Now, the Powder Works hasn’t been unknown. It has been mentioned. The fact that it was quite a marvel is even referenced. But, only rarely are any of the details of the facility and its operation given. There’s a pamphlet history of the works by its principal engineer, Colonel George Washington Rains, and books on Augusta’s history treat it to a degree. Now, however, a new work, just published the University of South Carolina Press, tells the story of this once world-class munitions factory that became a key element in the Confederacy’s military-industrial complex in Central Georgia and Alabama and that was a key to helping the Confederacy last as long as it did. Produced by a team of authors from several disciplines, Never for Want of Powder: The Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia allows us now to learn about the vital facility. Our speaker this month, Gordon A. Blaker, is one of the co-authors and will present a program on this too long overlooked installation. Come out and learn about the place that helped produce the powder that helped the Army of Tennessee fight without a shortage of ammunition in the Campaign for Chattanooga in 1863.

July’s speaker, Gordon A. Blaker, previously has directed curatorial services at the Augusta Museum of History where one of his projects was working with the extensive collection of architectural drawings of the Confederate Powder Works that survive. Now he is a museum specialist at the National Museum of the United States Army Reserve at Fort McPherson in Atlanta.

{Note—Mr. Blaker will have a small number of Never for Want of Powder with him that will be able to sell. The retail price of this 336 page, 124 illustration book is $44.95}

As long time members of the Round Table know, in Julys we meet at a place other than our normal location at the McCallie School since Steve Bartlett spends the month traveling on vacation and business and can’t be sure any arrangements he’d made before he departed to ensure that we could get in Caldwell Hall hadn’t broken down by the third Tuesday. This year, we’re returning to the CHATTANOOGA REGIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM where we have met in the past. The Regional History Museum is at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut in downtown. Their parking lot is on the south side of the building and is entered off of Chestnut. There is also other parking nearby and on the streets. We’ll meet in the museum’s meeting room on the main floor.

There are four items this month for the Speaker’s Fund. The first is a copy of our speaker’s book, Never for Want of Powder: The Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia. The second item also touches on the logistic and economic side of the war. It’s a copy of Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream by Gabor S. Boritt. The third item is a copy of Nat and Bucky Hughes’ Quiet Places: The Burial Sites of Civil War Generals in Tennessee. The fourth item is a copy of the old National Park Service handbook for the Manassas Battlefields. 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.

Did any one attend the “Why Franklin Matters” Symposium. I hear about a 150 folks did and that the talks and tours were enlightening. Hopefully this will translate into some better preservation and interpretation on the field of the Battle of Franklin. There will be some public meetings coming up on a study to evaluate preservation options at Franklin. I’ll try you keep the Round Table posted as to when they will be, assuming they are advertised as early as they should really be.

Historian and author Rick Baumgartner had a good weekend at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center bookstore. He was there on Wednesday the Fourth of July and on the 7th & 8th and sold 91 copies of his various books, including 42 copies of the just released enlarged and expanded edition of Blue Lightning: Wilder’s Mounted Infantry Brigade in the Battle of Chickamauga. I know a couple of Round Table members made it out to see him. Learn anything of note?

How about the Longstreet Symposium? Anyone make it over to Gainesville?

If you did attend any of these or other Civil War events and you make it to the July meeting, make a report if you will.

The second of five issues covering the campaign leading up to the Battle of Chickamauga and the battle itself of Blue & Gray Magazine is now on the street. If you subscribe, you should have your copy. Blue & Gray can be found on selected newsstands. The 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. The publisher has sent me a few issues to sell directly for those who do not subscribe and I’ll have them at the meeting for anyone who is interested.

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; NOTE SPECIAL PLACE AND TIME--We will gather at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center for this program before going out on the battlefield itself; we will start EARLIER than our time; we will start at 6:30 PM; bring a flashlight, wear comfortable and supportive walking shoes, and come dressed for the weather; 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.

August 18, 2007—Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association’s “Two Flags” recognition of Wilder’s August 21, 1863 bombardment of Chattanooga; details soon, probably at Ross’s Landing; for more information email tcwpacontact@aol.com or see www.tcwpa.org
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 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.
September 14 to 23, 2007—144th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of Chickamauga, Chickamauga Battlefield unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., ranger led tours and talks, Living History presentations, etc.; more details later
September 15, 2007--War Between the States day, City of Chickamauga, Georgia
September 20, 2007—“Confederate Cavalry in the Western Theater,” presented by Tennessee State Museum Curator Myers Brown and State University of West Georgia Professor Dr. Keith Bohannon, Rock Point Books, southwest corner of Broad and 4th Street in Downtown; more details later
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 5, 2007—Retired National Park Service Chief Historian Edwin C. Bearss presents final lecture in the Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park’s Second Annual Vital Speakers Series; topic and details to be announced later.
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.
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.
November 18, 2007—Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association’s “Two Flags” recognition of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, 3 PM, Bragg Reservation, Missionary Ridge; includes walking tour of portion of the Missionary Ridge Battlefield; for more information email tcwpacontact@aol.com or see www.tcwpa.org
December 1-2, 2007—Nashville Civil War Show, Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville; for details see www.mikekentshows.net
February 2-3, 2008—Chickamauga Civil War Show, Northwest Georgia Trade Center, Dalton; for more information see www.mikekentshows.net
March 14-16, 2008—Chickamauga Study Group 2008 “Seminar in the Woods;” two days of half day walking tours of individual phases of the Battle of Chickamauga with a possible optional half day tour on the final morning; specific phases to be studied in the 2008 Seminar are under consideration presently and will be announced soon; for more information in a couple of months, contact David Powell, Dpowell334@aol.com. [See Study Group 2007 for this year's event.]

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