The January meeting of the Turner Ashby Camp 1567, S.C.V., will feature Cindy Warlick, the proprietress of the Heirloom Emporium in Strasburg, and a board member of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation (CCBF). The meeting will be on Tuesday, January 13th, at 7 p.m. at Henkel Hall (Hester Auditorium) at Shenandoah University.
There are two sides to every story, and Ms. Warlick will be on hand at the January meeting to offer the CCBF's side of the controversy involving the expansion of the quarry and mining operations on the Cedar Creek battlefield, and the actions of the CCBF in the approval process with the Frederick County Board of Supervisors in May, 2008.
Please mark on your calendars Sunday, December 7th, at 2 p.m. in the banquet room upstairs at the Lee-Jackson Best Western in Winchester for our 2008 Christmas banquet. Cost is $18 a person, which has not changed in at least 3 years. There will be a full array of food and good music, as well as an outstanding speaker. Dan Paterson will be telling us about his rather famous great-grandfather, Lieutenant-General James Longstreet, commander of the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, from a family perspective.
We will be awarding our four raffle prizes at the banquet, so if you still have tickets to sell, please do so before the 7th December. We will also have other door prizes to give out as well. If you need additional raffle tickets, please contact our Adjutant. Our Camp treasury depends on raffle ticket sales.
We need to have an accurate count of how many are attending the banquet no later than December 1st. Please send in your reservation (name and number attending) and a check for the appropriate amount to Adjutant Neil Russell, 14831 Honor Court, Woodbridge, Va. 22193. Checks should be made out to Turner Ashby Camp 1567, SCV.
We have no regular meeting of the Camp in December; our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 13th.
Price of the tickets is $5.00 each or 5 for $20.00. The drawing for the raffle will be in December at our Christmas Banquet.
1st prize is a reproduction of a model 1851 Colt Navy Black Powder Revolver. (see picture below)
2nd prize is a 20x 30 inch framed painting by Bradley Schmehl entitled "Devil's Den - Gettysburg."
3rd prize is a copy of "Four Years In The Lower Shenandoah Valley" by Laura Virginia Hale.
4th prize is a free haircut or hair style from the "Come As You Are" hair salon in Winchester.
Marc Leepson will be our guest speaker for the November meeting and his topic will be on his new book, Desperate Engagement, which tells the story of the little-known but crucial July 9, 1864, Civil War Battle of Monocacy, which took place four miles south of Frederick, Maryland, and Jubal Early's subsequent march on Washington, D.C. Monocacy is known as "the battle that saved Washington," and my talk will deal with that--and much more surrounding Early's adventures after he left the defenses of Richmond on June 13, and ending when he crossed back into Virginia at White's Ferry on July 13, 1864.
Marc Leepson is a journalist, historian and author who lives with his wife and their two children in Middleburg. A former staff writer at Congressional Quarterly in Washington, he has been arts editor and columnist for The VVA Veteran, the newspaper published by Vietnam Veterans of America, since 1986. He served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam in 1967-68.
He is the author of six books, including Saving Monticello: The Levy Family’s Epic Quest to Rescue the House that Jefferson Built; Flag: An American Biography; and Desperate Engagement, which tells the story of the Civil War Battle of Monocacy and Jubal Early’s subsequent march on Washington, D.C., and will be published in July 2007.
He has written for many newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, New York Times, New York Times Book Review, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Detroit News, Dallas Morning News, St. Petersburg Times, USA Today, Civil War Times, Military History, Smithsonian, and Preservation. He has been a guest on many television and radio news programs, including All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CBC (Canada) and Irish Radio. And he has given talks at many colleges and universities, including the University of Maryland, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Miami, Appalachian State University, the College of Southern Maryland and Georgetown University. He is adjunct instructor of history at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, Virginia
Over the last fourteen years, CW Whitehair has portrayed both a civilian and military Civil War re-enactor. In addition to his studies at Shepherd University, he has studied various campaigns and personalities that made a contribution to the war effort. He is a volunteer historical interpreter for the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and a member of the Harpers Ferry Historical Association.
CW is a contributor to the Civil War Courier and the Camp Chase Gazette in Morristown, Tennessee, often writing articles on re-enactments, historical features, and various personalities of the Civil War. In the 2006 November issue of the Civil War Historian magazine, he had the feature article, Belle Boyd: The Rebel Spy. He is also the author of the historical novel Sabers &Roses, released in June 2006.
The Struggle for Harpers Ferry, an Amazon Best Selling Short Story was released in May 2007. His second historical fiction, Northern Fire, was released in March 2008, and is co-authored with his wife Rhonda-Lee.
CW has appeared in the historical documentaries, Hunter’s Raid and Cedar Creek and several motion pictures entitled, Avenel and the Great Sacrifice of Jefferson Davis. CW has given many lectures, including the 2007 West Virginia Book Festival and the 400th Jamestown Anniversary. On request, he will give private tours of the Harpers Ferry National Park and other local Civil War Battlefields.
Currently, CW and Rhonda-Lee are working on their third Civil War novel entitled The Bloody Harvest.
Rhonda Lee began Civil War re-enacting 7 years ago. She has appeared in the historical documentaries, Hunter’s Raid and Cedar Creek, and the motion pictures, Avenel and the Great Sacrifice of Jefferson Davis. Rhonda has assisted in editing various diaries and letters to be used in historical readings at re-enactments. She was a dialect instructor for members of the play Hopscotch, presented by the Maryland Ensemble Theatre. She is the co-author of the Civil War novel entitled Northern Fire and is currently working on a second novel with CW entitled, The Bloody Harvest.
In 1860, 3,000 citizens called Harpers Ferry, Virginia their home. The main industry and life-blood of the town centered on the manufacturing of weapons. Within six months after the outbreak of the Civil War, there were only 100 citizens that remained and called Harpers Ferry their home. Why such an exodus from such a thriving economy? What was life like for those residents who dared to remain in the town after the war began?
In plain English that means we'll be looking at these two famous cavalry forays with a view toward drawing conclusions about the value of cavalry raiding as a tactic overall. Was it justified? Did it cause more damage to the enemy than to one's own side, etc.? Stoneman and Stuart are used not because they are two of the most famous raids, but because they occurred within weeks of each other at a time when Union cavalry was supposedly establishing parity with the previously dominant Confederate horsemen.
Scott Burns: Born and raised in MD. My father took me to Gettysburg in 1959 (about the time the centennial was kicking in) and that did it as far as getting me interested in CW history. Graduated from McDonogh School outside Baltimore whose first headmaster was William Allan, Stonewall Jackson's Chief of Ordnance - and a Winchester native. BA, Drew University, Madison, NJ ; MA in Civil War Studies, American Military University, Shepherdstown, WVa I'm a retired police officer from Morris Township PD, NJ. Taught for 19 years on staff of Morris County (NJ ) Police Academy. Certified by NJ Police Training Commission, and taught with NJ Division of Criminal Justice also. The presentation will be based on research originally done in pursuit of the Master's degree from AMU, updated with most recent historical thought in publication.
Our April meeting marks the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh. We will be watching a documentary film titled "Shiloh: The War IS Civil No More". Please make every effort to join us and watch this wonderful film.
The Key Role of Virginia’s Great Appalachian Valley (GAV) during the War Between the States
SYNOPSIS:
During the War Between the States, the Lincoln administration and War Department started its execution of the war following the strategy proposed
by the Anaconda Plan created by Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott (aka Scott's Great Snake). This strategy minimized the need for Battlespace Awareness
preparation, as we now call it, by focusing on external invasion approaches along the sea and inland waterways, much like the British strategy
against the colonies during the Revolutionary War. As a result, little attention was paid to the military and economic value of the Great
Appalachian Valley (GAV) and its potential contribution to protecting and supplying the effort of the southern states.
This presentation reviews the key role of the GAV in the southern military strategy.
BIO:
David O'Neil
Native Texan, raised in Mississippi, graduated from US Naval Academy, commissioned into the United States Marine Corps. Veteran of the 1st
Gulf War. Retired after a final five year tour as Chief Instructor, Command and Control Systems School, Marine Corps University, Quantico,
VA. B.S in Naval Architecture from the Naval Academy and M.S in System Engineering from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
Following retirement, Chief Systems Engineer for 10 years for Lockheed Martin for satellite operations and intelligence community work.
Currently a Senior Research Scientist and Engineering Manager for Northrop Grumman in Chantilly, VA. Work has included White House
Communications Agency, and other defense and intelligence communications systems and programs. Currently supporting the National
Security Space Office for design of future defense and intelligence communications satellite programs and guest lecturer at George
Mason University and Northrop Grumman for Systems Engineering masters degree programs.
Descended from ten grandfather CSA Veterans including 1 secession representative for Georgia:
Major John McConnell, secession representative for Cherokee Co. Georgia (and a YES vote)
Captain Issac McConnell, Cherokee Legion Infantry, Georgia State Guard
Captain John Davis, 37th Alabama Infantry
2nd Lieutenant Benjamin Nelson, 22nd Alabama Infantry
Corporal Rheuben Davidson, 56th Alabama Partisan Rangers
Private William Moore, 4th South Carolina Cavalry
Private Alexander Coleman, Texas Militia
Private William Myers, 1st South Carolina Infantry
Private Lee Jackson, 4th Regiment, Alabama Cavalry
Private Samuel Davidson, 24th Virginia Infantry (originally commanded by Colonel Jubal Early)
Christmas Banquet
The Turner Ashby Christmas Banquet will
be held on December 2, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. in the Lee-Jackson Best Western in Winchester, Virginia.
We will have a buffet with baked chicken and steamship round of beef; corn and mixed vegetables;
augratin potatoes and Rebel cake for dessert. We have an excellent speaker who will give a presentation
titled "The Letters of G. Boston Scott, 50th Virginia Infantry Regiment." There will also be
good music and fellowship and we will install our new officers. All this for only $18 and this price has not
changed in 3 years. Call me to sign up at 540-665-8567 and send your check made out to the camp to
my address at 781 Johnston Ct., Winchester, VA., 22601. See you there!
Important news!
At the November 13th meeting, we will be electing new officers for the upcoming year, so it is very
important that we have a good turn out of our membership!
10/09/2007: Author and Historian Fred L. Ray
Author and historian Fred L. Ray will join us on October 9 to discuss the sharpshooters in the Army
of Northern Virginia. Fred wrote the well-received Shock Troops of the Confederacy: The Sharpshooter
Battalions of the Army of Northern Virginia in 2006. Weapons and tactics aficionados will not want
to miss this as Fred is an expert on both as they pertain to the South’s elite sharpshooter units.
Fred’s project began when he discovered that his great grandfather commanded an Alabama sharpshooter
company. The public is invited to join us at 7 p.m., on Tuesday evening, October 9, in Shenandoah
University’s Henkel Hall auditorium.
9/11/2007: The Hunley: Southern Ingenuity, Technological Innovations & Engineering Advances
I hope everybody and their families had a great safe summer. We will be kicking off our fall with a fantastic program and
I hope you will bring friends and family. Jack Marlar, the national SCV field representative, will visit us and present
The Hunley: Southern Ingenuity, Technological Innovations & Engineering Advances. Jack will talk about the launch of submarine
warfare and show how this Southern vessel was way ahead of its time. A lot has been portrayed about the Hunley and its crew via
books, magazines and television. Jack will not focus on the commonly known information, but instead will talk about new facts
that are not common knowledge about this vessel and her brave crew. The next meeting is Tuesday, September 11 (7 p.m.) at Shenandoah University's Henkel Hall. Our meetings are open to the public, and all are welcome. See you there!