Current Newsletter and Archives
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 21st, 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 21st, 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 – 12th 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.