The New Bedford
Civil War Roundtable

September 27, 2011, 7pm at Fort Taber Military Museum

(Please note: business meeting of NBCWRT will begin at 6:30pm)

Russ McClintock on “Lincoln and the Decision for War”.

Read an interview with Russell McClintock.

Russ will have copies of book “Lincoln and the Decision for War” available for purchase.

Friday, October 28, 2011, 6:30pm at the Penler Space at Zeiterion Performing Arts Center (ZPAC)

“New Bedford Civil War Voices” – Carl Cruz, Paul Cyr and Barbara McDonald will talk on New Bedford citizens’ involvement in the Civil War, including Sgt. William Carney, the first African-American recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Please note: This program is a free, pre-performance talk prior to the ZPAC’s “Civil War Voices” performance which starts at 8pm that night.

A Civil War fife and drum group will perform 30 minutes before the talk and before the performance.

A ZPAC Book Club discussion led by NBCWRT member Dave Prentiss on E.L. Doctorow’s “The March” will take place on October 18th at 6:30pm at the Penler Space.  All are welcome to attend.  Contact ZPAC for more information.

November 29, 2011, 7pm, at Fort Taber Military Museum

Steve Laird on “The Battle of the Wilderness: The Beginning of the End for Lee’s Army”.

Steve is a member of the Stamford, CT CWRT and gave a talk for us last year.

January 24, 2012, 7pm, at Fort Taber Military Museum

Lincoln’s Letters read by George Vafiadis.

George is an actor and writer whose credits include the award-winning audio book, “Lincoln’s Letters – The Private Man and the Warrior”.

Please note: This program is being coordinated with the February 12th performance of “The Rivalry” at 8pm at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center (ZPAC)

George Vafiadis and NBCWRT member Dave Prentiss will give a free, pre-performance talk on “Lincoln the Communicator” at the Penler Space at ZPAC at 6:30pm, February 12th.

Civil War era organ music will be performed in the Zeiterion Theatre 30 minutes before the performance of “The Rivalry” for performance ticket-holders.

Dave Prentiss will facilitate a ZPAC Book Blub discussion on February 7 at 6:30pm at the Penler Space on Harold Holzer’s “Lincoln at Cooper Union”.  All are welcome to attend.  Contact ZPAC for more information. 

February 28, 2012, 7pm, at Fort Taber Military Museum

Barbara McDonald on “1st Lt. John B. Hyde of New Bedford”.

Barbara has conducted a substantial amount of research on the life of John B. Hyde, Civil War officer and New Bedford citizen.

March 27, 2012, 7pm at Fort Taber Military Museum

David Nyman on “The CSS David: Precursor to Submarine Warfare”.

David is a member of the Civil War Roundtable of Central Massachusetts and has presented on many topics of the Civil War.

April 24, 2012, 7pm at Fort Taber Military Museum

David Smith on “The History of Baseball in the Civil War”

Dave is the President of the Civil War Roundtable of Greater Boston and has presented extensively on numerous Civil War topics.

May 22, 2012, 7pm at the New Bedford Whaling Museum

Historian Wilson A. Greene on “The Day the South Lost the War: The Fall of New Orleans”

This lecture focuses on the combined Union naval and army operation in the spring of 1862 that resulted in the capture of the Confederacy's largest city and most important port. A complacent Confederate military placed unwarranted confidence in two large masonry forts more than sixty miles downstream from New Orleans to protect the key city on the Gulf Coast. A flotilla commanded by David Farragut and innovative mortar boats led by David D. Porter along with a newly-recruited army—primarily from New England's maritime communities—under Massachusetts general Benjamin F. Butler arrived below the forts in April 1862. The result would be a dramatic conflict in which the Union navy eventually bulled its way past the Confederate bastions and steamed up to the New Orleans levees. Not until the Union army forced the surrender of the forts, however, did the defiant citizens of the Crescent City capitulate, giving the North one of its most important victories of the entire Civil War.

About Will Greene

Will Greene received his B.A. in American History at Florida State University and his M.A. in History at Louisiana State University.  He spent sixteen years as historian and manager with the National Park Service, with assignments that included the Fredericksburg National Military Park (VA), Independence National Historical Park (PA), Chalmette National Historical Park (LA), Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL), Shenandoah National Park (VA), and the Petersburg National Battlefield (VA).  From 1990–1994, Will served as the President and Executive Director of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (now the Civil War Trust).  Since 1995 he has been the Executive Director of the Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, Petersburg, VA.

Will has been Study Leader for more than 40 Smithsonian Institute tours and seminars covering all the major Civil War campaigns.  He has spoken to more than 100 Civil War Round Tables and provided more than 50 tours to special history groups.  Will was Guest Speaker for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, 1991–2008, and a lecturer for the Civil War Society, Blue and Gray Education Society, Campaigning with Lee Seminar and many other symposiums and seminars.

Publications:

• More than 20 articles in history journals
• J. Horace Lacy:  The Most Dangerous Rebel of the County (Richmond, VA, 1987)
• National Geographic’s Guide to Civil War Battlefield Parks (Washington, D.C., 1993)
• Whatever You Resolve to Be:  Essays on Stonewall Jackson (1992/2005)
• The Second Manassas Campaign (Conshohocken, PA, 1996)
• Contributor to Conservation Fund’s Guide to Civil War Battlefields
• Contributor to seven volumes of University of North Carolina Press’s Civil War Series
• Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion:  The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign (2000/2008)
• Civil War Petersburg: Confederate City in the Crucible of War  (University of Virginia Press, 2006)
• Currently under contract to the University of North Carolina Press to write a three-volume history of the Petersburg Campaign: expected publication 2013–2016

Awards:

• Named Outstanding Southerner by Southern Living Magazine
• George Lee Civil War Roundtable Preservation Award
• Laney Award for Outstanding Book on Civil War History (Civil War Petersburg)
• D. H. Hill Award, North Carolina Civil War Round Table, 2010
• Nevins-Freeman Award, Chicago Civil War Round Table, 2011