Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable

Williamsburg Civil War

Roundtable

 

  Meeting Place:

WILLIAMSBURG

Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre

Volume LVI Number 1                                   September 23, 2025

MONTHLY ORGANIZATION NEWSLETTER
September 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Kevin Pawlak

"Antietam Endgame: The Conclusion of Lee's Maryland Campaign,
September 18-20, 1862"  

Join us on Tuesday, September 23rd, 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.

On Tuesday September 23rd Kevin Pawlak will present “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. Kevin previously worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. He is on the Board of Directors for the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association, the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and the Antietam Institute. He is also a regular contributor to the Emerging Civil War online blog. He is the author and co-author of nine books, including To Hazard All: A Guide to the Maryland Campaign.

Last Meeting
On Tuesday, May 27th, Jonathan Jones presented "Opium Slavery". In the wake of the Civil War, many veterans struggled with lingering pain, disabling illnesses, and mental illness. To cope, former soldiers often turned to opioids, which were ubiquitous in the Civil War era. Thousands of veterans became addicted. Jonathan S. Jones, Assistant Professor of History at James Madison University and author of Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis (UNC Press, forthcoming October 2025) will discuss how the Civil War era’s opioid crisis began, how the addiction epidemic affected veterans’ lives, and what this crisis can teach us about the war’s traumatic aftershocks.

Jonathan S. Jones is an assistant professor of history at James Madison University. His first book, Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis, is forthcoming from UNC Press in October 2025. Jones’s research has appeared in The Journal of the Civil War Era, North Carolina Historical Review, the Washington Post, Vice, NPR, BBC, History, and other outlets. Jones received his PhD from Binghamton University in 2020. In 2020-21, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Penn State’s George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center and from 2021-23 he was an assistant professor of history at Virginia Military Institute.

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

•  October 28, 2025 - Feather Foster: “The Civil War Divas – First Ladies Mary Lincoln and Julia Grant”
• 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

 

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.