So many books, so little time...

Almost finished Freehling's first volume of "Disunion". As soon as I finish it, I'm going to start " The Memoirs of Henry Heth"; edited by James L. Morrison. It was a Father's day gift and greatly appreciated.Heth has always been held responsible for starting the battle of Gettysburg though recently I have read that it was Hill who should shoulder responsibility. Either way, I'm looking forward to what appears to be a great read.

145th Confederate Memorial Day services in Winchester

The 145th Confederate Memorial Day services were held on June 6 in the Stonewall section of Mount Hebron Cemetery. The ceremony was conducted by the Winchester UDC and SCV. After the service there was the unveiling of the Arkansas Memorial for the 20 confederate soldiers from Arkansas buried in Mount Hebron . A delegation from the Arkansas UDC spread soil from Arkansas over each grave. All twenty of the soldiers had perished from disease.

150th Event- The 2011 Virginia Sesquicentennial Signature Conference

The third annual conference in this series was held on May 21 at Virginia Tech's Cassell coliseum. James "Bud" I.Robertson, Jr. led a Civil War buff's "dream team" panel consisting of John M. Bowen,William C. Davis, Dennis E. Frye, Gary W. Gallagher, Joseph T. Glatthaar, Richard M. McMurry, Richard J. Sommers and Steven E. Woodworth. The topic was "Military Strategy in the American Civil War" and was divided into four sessions. During lunch, those in attendance were serenaded by the "Stonewall Brigade Band".The 2012 conference is scheduled for March 22, 2012 at V.M.I. The topic will be "Leadership and Generalship in the Civil War". This series of lectures is a definite don't miss.

Gordon Rhea's Why Non-Slaveholding Southerners Fought

This morning I was checking out some great Civil War links and I came across Gordon Rhea's January 25, 2011 address to the Charleston Library Society titled "Why Non-Slaveholding Southerners Fought". I have read his books on the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and Cold Harbor. I found them well researched and joy to read. As I read the article, I found lots of reasons why the south left the Union but nothing as to why individual southerners fought. Maybe I'm splitting hairs but when I was in school we were taught U.S. involvement in Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism. When ever I've asked a Vietnam vet why they went, I have never heard the reply to "stop communism". I've gotten responses ranging from patriotic to "I had no choice; I was drafted". Letters and diaries from the civil war that I've read echo the responses from patriotic to "I was drafted". A better title might have been " Why Non-Slaveholding Southerners allowed Secession". This post isn't about "Lost Cause" defense. I get upset when every out house that burnt down between 1861-1865 in the deep south is attributed to Sherman. A friend summed it up well and I quote "I as a former soldier find this attitude disturbing as it seems to say that every soldier agrees with the government’s policy and is a willing participant in promoting that policy. "

150th Event- Reenactment of the Great Train Raid in the Valley

85 degrees and humid here. Old Court House Civil War Museum benefit isn't till tonight so no pictures till tomorrow. I'll take this opportunity to talk about the reenactment of the Great Train Raid in the Valley that took place on May 29, 2011. Starting in July 1861, Stonewall Jackson moved 14 dismantled locomotives (and other equipment), overland from Martinsburg to Strasburg using forty-horse teams. For the reenactment, a mock up of an 1860's locomotive was pulled down Route 11/Valley Pike by horses. They started at Cedar Creek Battlefield and ended at Strasburg. My wife and I set up our chairs in front of the Heirloom Emporium on the corner of East King and Massanutten St. /Route 11 around 10 a.m. The spot coincided with the background of Mort Kunstler's "Heavy Traffic on the Valley Pike". It was sunny and already getting hot. The scheduled arrival of the procession was estimated at around 2p.m.As it got closer to the appointed hour the sidewalk filled with more onlookers and reenactors. Since horses don't carry pocket watches they arrived a bit early. The horses had outpaced the reenactors marching behind them and it was all quite a sight. All parties involved in putting on this unique and one of kind event deserve a round of applause. Some spectators tried to time their arrival for the last minute and missed it. Horses aren't cars and if they'd read anything about stage coaches in history they would have realized time tables based on horses were a rule of thumb at best. One of the volunteers told me a vet traveled the route with the horses and monitored them, taking frequent breaks for watering and cooling down. When they arrived, the horses looked in much better shape than a lot of the bipedal participants.

                         General Mahone turned out to see the show.

                                                C.S. Cavalry