Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable

Williamsburg Civil War

Roundtable

 

  Meeting Place:

WILLIAMSBURG

Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre

Volume LVI Number 2                                   October 21, 2025

MONTHLY ORGANIZATION NEWSLETTER
October 21, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Owen Lanier
"Big Guns in The Tidewater: Yorktown's 1862 Siege"  

Join us on Tuesday, October 21^st, for the meeting of the Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable, commencing at 6:30 PM in the Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre. The library is located at 515 Scotland Street in Williamsburg.

The program will also be presented online via a Zoom link for our members and friends near and far. The details for the Zoom link will be provided in a follow-up announcement several days prior to the meeting date.

Fellow Members and Friends,
Feather Foster has regretfully advised that she must cancel her October presentation. She advised that she had knee replacement surgery on October 6 and will not be sufficiently recovered or mobile by the October 21 meeting date.

On Tuesday October 21^st, Owen Lanier will present “Big Guns in the Tidewater: Yorktown's 1862 Siege”

To halt Maj. Gen. McClellan's march up the peninsula toward Richmond, Confederate Maj. Gen. Magruder built three dams to create impassable lakes on the Warwick River and fortified the dams to prevent frontal assaults by Union forces during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. Gloucester Point and Yorktown were transformed into a proverbial "Gibraltar of the Confederacy." Explore the photographs, people, and events that made up an often overlooked chapter of the American Civil War.

Owen Lanier graduated from Gettysburg College as a David Wills Scholar. With his social media account CivilWarFiles, Owen has researched and written about his own family history, and that of many other Americans, for an audience of more than ten thousand. As an independent researcher in Yorktown, Owen has written articles for the Emerging Civil War Blog and the American Battlefield Trust. Most recently, he was published in the Center for Civil War Photography’s Battlefield Photographer magazine for his discoveries surrounding a series of photographs taken at Cornwallis Cave in 1862. Now an employee of York County’s Economic & Tourism Development office, Owen enjoys encouraging visitation to Yorktown, a crucial town in American history.

Last Month
On Tuesday September 23rd Kevin Pawlak presented “Antietam Endgame: The Conclusion of Lee’s Maryland Campaign, September 18-20, 1862."   The Maryland Campaign did not conclude with the Battle of Antietam on September 17. Three days of fighting and maneuvering after the bloodiest single day in American history ended Confederate hopes for a victory on Northern soil. The outcome of the campaign still hung much in the balance and sharp fighting at Shepherdstown and Williamsport proved to be the final events that turned one of this nation's most crucial campaigns into a victory for the United States.

Kevin Pawlak is the Historic Site Manager of Ben Lomond Historic Site and Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park and serves as a Certified Battlefield Guide at Antietam National Battlefield. He graduated from Shepherd University in 2014, majoring in History with a concentration in Civil War and 19th Century America and minoring in Historic Preservation.

Officers of WCWRT
President: Bill Miller               Vice-President: Lee Underwood
Secretary                               Treasurer: 

The Executive Committee consists of the elected officers, the immediate past president and other members appointed by the incoming president. Those members include Debbie Bedosti, Tom Lamb, and Terri Teopke.

2025-2026 Membership dues are due. Please click on the application form link for the form.

Upcoming Meetings and Speakers

• November 25, 2025 - Chris Kolakowski: “Perspectives on the Virginia 1862 Campaigns”
• December 16, 2025 - Peggy Vogtsberger: “The Army of the Cumberland”

In January meetings change to fourth Wednesday night in the auditorium (room 127) in the Stryker building

• January 28, 2026 - Ryan Quint: “Dranesville: A Northern Virginia Town in the Crossfire of a Forgotten Battle, December 20, 1861”
• February 25, 2026 - Rob Abbott: “Old Clubby: Alleghany Johnson’s Division on Culps Hill”
• March 25, 2026: Michael Block: “The Mine Run Campaign”
• April 22, 2026 - Dennis Frye: “Lee’s Achilles Heel: Harpers Ferry”
• May 27, 2026 - Richard Hatcher: “Fort Sumter: The Key to the Entrance into This Harbor”

Upcoming Outside Events

• August 7-9, 2026 – 12^th Annual Emerging Civil War symposium at Stevenson Ridge details

Other Notes:  

Meeting the Challenge: Bill Miller discusses WCWRT video Membership Dues for the 2024-2025 sessions are due. Please help support our remaining schedule for this season.

Support our Book Raffle:  This is an important secondary source of revenue to support our programming. It’s a wonderful way to supplement your Civil War library with great books at bargain basement prices.

Help our effort increase our membership:  The best method of recruitment is by word of mouth. Help our effort to grow your Roundtable by inviting your friends and neighbors to accompany you to our meeting.

Visit the Williamsburg Battlefield Association
(http://www.williamsburgbattlefieldassociation.org/) (https://www.facebook.com/WilliamsburgBattlefieldAssociation)
 
WEBSITE: Be sure to frequently visit the site for newsletter info, announcements, future and past speakers, and an up to date calendar of events in the Civil War world.  It’s available anytime you need the info. https://www.wcwrt.org/news/2024 Newsletter archive.pdf.

The purpose of this organization shall be to promote discussion and study of the Civil War and to further stimulate interest in all aspects and phases of the Civil War period.