Volume_29_Issue_2

22 Volume 29, Issue 2 Preservation & Progress F ALL M USTER October 5 and 6, 2018 Held at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center Friday, October 5, 2018 Friday Evening Program: Flames Beyond Gettysburg with author Scott Mingus, Sr. In late June 1863, two powerful columns of Confederate troops approached the Susquehanna River in south-central Pennsylvania. One marched northeasterly from Franklin County through Carlisle toward Harrisburg and the other headed eastward through Gettysburg and York towards Wrightsville/Columbia. This presentation will cover the latter command, that of Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, as it conquered Gettysburg aer a series of skirmishes on June 26 and then two days later occupied York, the largest Northern town to fall to the Confederates during the entire war. Hastily organized state militia defended the river crossing at Wrightsville and then burned the world’s longest covered bridge to prevent Rebel passage into Lancaster County, from which Jubal Early had hoped to threaten Harrisburg. The Friday evening program will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. Light refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 6, 2018 On Saturday, six different battlefield tours will be offered. Attendees will choose one program in the morning from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and one in the afternoon from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. A lunch buffet and raffle will be offered in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The available programs are listed below: Program #1 Indoor AM: Gettysburg Through the Eyes of the Confederate High Command with National Park Service Ranger Matt Atkinson Do you like being a “Monday Morning Quarterback?” Come join us as we explore the different strategic and tactical decisions made by the Confederate commanders, including R. E. Lee, as the battle unfolded over three days. Together we will analyze the battle from the perspectives of the men who lived it and made the decisions that affected the lives of thousands of soldiers. This three-hour program will analyze each day of the conflict and how the Confederate commanders reacted to the battle that was occurring around them. Program #2 Indoor PM: Welcome To The Rock—Alcatraz! The Attack And Defense of San Francisco Bay and Alta California In The American Civil War with Licensed Battlefield Guide John Fitzpatrick Join us for a fascinating, informative, historic tale and travelogue throughout the San Francisco bay area and northern California up to and through the American civil war. No major land or naval battles occurred there during the Civil War, but does that mean that nothing happened there and then? We will address that important question with information and connections by looking at places and events. We will visit, “then and now,” the federal bay area circle of fire. Connections will be made to Gettysburg, the wider Civil War and to its international reach. Program #3 AM or PM: Eisenhower at Gettysburg with Licensed Battlefield Guide Ralph Siegel Veteran battlefield trampers know the 690-acre Eisenhower National Historic Site is tucked in right next door to the 6,000-acre battlefield park. Some may have taken the shuttle bus to visit the retirement home of the 34th president. But there is a lot more to the Eisenhower story at Gettysburg. His early military career blossomed at Gettysburg and he longed to return. After he did so, he became a prominent tour guide whose observations on the Civil War battle drew national media attention. Ralph Siegel has developed a unique “Eisenhower” tour of Gettysburg, blending the Eisenhower sites in town with the General’s perspectives on the Civil War battle. The tour ends in the National Cemetery for a brief visit to meet some of “Eisenhowers’ Boys.” Program #4 AM or PM: “The most desperate fighting I ever saw”: The 16th Michigan Volunteers with Licensed Battlefield Guide Stuart R. Dempsey The fighting on Little Round Top made reputations. This is true of Gen. G. K. Warren, Col. Patrick O’Rorke, and particularly Col. Joshua Chamberlain and his 20th Maine. But for one regiment and its commander, the legacy of Little Round Top would be one of questions regarding leadership, courage, and discipline, of doubts raised and aspersions cast. The 16th Michigan was that regiment. Even today, its role in the defense of the famous hill is probably the least known among the Federal units that fought there. Yet in July 1863, the 16th had a year of combat experience and nearly two years of military service behind it: it was a veteran unit with a respected battle record. What went wrong? We will explore this question and get to know the story of these valiant Michiganders.