Meeting Dates
The organization meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month September through May. Meetings are held in the Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre located at 515 Scotland St in Williamsburg, VA, unless otherwise posted. The meetings begin at 7 PM. Membership is open to the general public.
This Month's Speaker
On Tuesday April 23, 2019, Edward Alexander will present “Breaking
Through to the Other Side – Petersburg, April 2, 1865”. ‘The breaking of
Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg was achieved through a bayonet charge
by the Union VI Corps on the morning of April 2, 1865. Failed assaults
at Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, and Franklin seemed to prove
the futility of frontal attacks, but this particular Union corps
demonstrated a recurring ability to punch through fortified positions
during the Civil War. This presentation discusses the criteria necessary
for their string of successful attacks, the context of the final
offensive at Petersburg, and the dramatic story of the very first Union
soldiers to reach the top of the Confederate fortifications on the last
day of the Petersburg campaign. This decisive day of the American Civil
War is brought to life using modern and historic images of the
battlefield landscape, compelling primary source material from its
participants, and animated topographic maps of the campaign.
Edward Alexander is author of Dawn of Victory: Breakthrough at
Petersburg. He has previously worked as a park ranger and historian at
Pamplin Historical Park and Richmond National Battlefield Park. He is
currently in civil engineering & construction but continues his public
history work as a freelance mapmaker and a contributing member of the
Emerging Civil War organization. Edward is a graduate of the University
of Illinois and currently resides in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
CWI-CWRT CONGRESS PARTNERSHIP details
Visit the American Battlefield Trust site to view animated Peninsula Campaign map
Visit the Williamsburg Battlefield Association (view
newsletter)
(http://www.williamsburgbattlefieldassociation.org/)
(https://www.facebook.com/WilliamsburgBattlefieldAssociation)