Brag Bowling, President         Art Bergeron, Editor       
3019 Kensington Ave             3901 Paces Ferry Road   
Richmond, VA 23221              Chester, VA 23831-1239

March 2003 PROGRAM

J. A. Barton Campbell
"Is a Museum of the Confederacy Relevant?"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 11, 2003, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.) Enter
the basement door on the right side under the front steps.

Colonel  J.   A.   Barton  Campbell  became  the   Executive
Director of the Museum of the Confederacy and White House in
February 2002.  Prior to that, he served  on  the  Board  of
Trustees  for  the  Museum and on the Annual Celebrate South
Ball Committee/weekend since the first Bonnie Blue Ball. His
prior  experience  included  29  years  with Reynolds Metals
Company in marketing and sales and  30+  years  of  an  Army
career  that  included  assignments  with  the  Active Army,
National  Guard,  and  Army  Reserve.   Upon  retiring  from
Reynolds,  he  was  Director of Membership and Marketing for
the Reserve Officers Association, Washington, D. C.         

Born  in  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  he  and  his  wife  call
Virginia  "home."  A  graduate in engineering from Princeton
University, Campbell was commissioned through ROTC in  Field
Artillery.   He  served  with the 2nd Infantry Division, and
upon departure from active duty, commenced what  was  to  be
almost  three  decades  of a dual civilian/RC path.  He is a
graduate of the Command and General Staff College  and  Army
War  College.   His  decorations include the Legion of Merit
and the Meritorious Service Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters. 

Campbell has been  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Confederate
Veterans  for  over  40  years,  to  include  serving as the
Georgia   Division   commander,   and    founding    member,
subsequently  camp  commander, of the Jeb Stuart Camp #1343.
He has two direct  ancestors  that  served  in  the  western
theater:  Major  William  P.  Campbell, 1st Arkansas Mounted
Rifles, cited for gallantry at the Battle  of  Murfreesboro,
where  he  lost  a  leg;  and  Colonel  William A.  Johnson,
commander of the 4th Alabama Cavalry Regiment, in Lieutenant
General  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest's Cavalry Corps.  Campbell
was chairman of  the  SCV  Centennial  national  reunion  in
Richmond in 1996.  His wife boasts equal Confederate lineage
on her side.                                                


Review of the February Program


In a somewhat unusual twist of  fate,  those  attending  the
February  meeting were treated to an insider's look into the
movie "Gods and Generals." Dr.  Mark A.  Snell was  prepared
to give a presentation on Union general William B. Franklin,
as had been advertised.  Having seen the premier of the move
the  night before our meeting, Snell suggested that he could
talk about the film instead.  Snell is the director  of  the
George  Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War at
Shepherd College and was one of the  historical  consultants
for  "Gods and Generals." The matter was put to the members,
and by a slim majority, they deferred learning about General
Franklin  to  some  future  date.  "Or you can buy my book,"
Snell quipped.                                              

Viewers will find that "Gods and Generals" is not  precisely
like  the  novel  by  Jeff Shaara on which it is based.  The
action begins with John Brown's Raid on Harper's  Ferry  and
ends  with  the death of Stonewall Jackson.  Footage showing
the Battle of Fredericksburg focuses on the attacks  against
Marye's  Heights.   Due  to  time constraints, the sequences
showing the Battle of Antietam have been  omitted  from  the
theater  version.   "Gods  and Generals" is a bloodier movie
than "Gettysburg," at least partially because it was  filmed
for  release  in theaters and not on television.  Snell said
that it isn't as gory  as  the  opening  scenes  of  "Saving
Private Ryan."                                              

Stonewall  Jackson  is  the  hero of the movie.  Snell spent
several years working at  the  Stonewall  Jackson  House  in
Lexington  and  feels that he got to know the general pretty
well.  He said that actor Stephen Lang  gave  a  mesmerizing
performance  as  Stonewall.   "You  forget  that  he  played
Pickett in  that  other  movie."  In  "Gods  and  Generals,"
Jackson  is  the blue-eyed killer described by Bud Robertson
in  his  prize-winning  biography.   Yet  the  movie   shows
Stonewall's   softer   side   as   well,   particularly  his
relationship  with  his  wife.   One  touching  scene  shows
Jackson  talking  with  General Maxcy Gregg while the latter
was on his deathbed.  The most moving  part  of  the  movie,
according  to  Snell,  deals  with Jackson's reaction to the
death of a little  girl  named  Janie  Corbin  from  scarlet
fever.  He breaks down and sobs like a baby.                

"Gods  and  Generals" is a better movie than "Gettysburg" in
many respects, according to Snell.  For one thing,  producer
Ron  Maxwell actually listened to the historical consultants
when  they  made  recommendations.    The   battle   scenes,
especially  those  covering  Chancellorsville, are extremely
accurate.  Snell described  the  Battle  of  First  Manassas
scenes  as  "excellent"  and  the  street fighting scenes at
Fredericksburg as "outstanding." All of the  actors  portray
the  various  generals  and  other  officers  as  they were,
without  taking  any  "historical"  liberties   with   those
characters.   The  movie contains some cliches, but they are
not  as  prominent  as  those  in  "Gettysburg."  "Gods  and
Generals"  does  not  have  any  blatant anachronisms in it.
Finally, there are no bad characters in  the  movie.   Snell
said  that  Maxwell  wanted the good in these people to show
through.                                                    

Snell predicted that many critics will attack the movie  for
being too pro-Confederate and for showing the religious side
of the people involved.  He  called  it  "a  very  religious
movie"  and said that this is because religion played such a
large part in the lives of the men and women  of  that  era.
While  the  movie  will show the influence of slavery in the
coming of the war, it will also indicate  that  few  men  on
either  side  enlisted  either  to  defend  or  abolish  the
peculiar institution.                                       


 Announcements 

This first announcement was received too late for
the printed/mailed copy of this News Letter:

Longwood University Seminar

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and Longwood
University  will  sponsor  their  Fourth  Annual  Civil  War
Seminar on Saturday, March 29,  2003.   The  theme  of  this
year's  seminar  is "The Civil War at Sea." Speakers include
Dr.   Robert  Zaworski  (diver  on  USS  Monitor),  John  V.
Quarstein  (The  CSS  Virginia:  Sink Before Surrender), Dr.
Spencer C.  Tucker (Andrew Foote  and  the  War  on  Western
Waters),  and  Dr.  Robert M.  Browning (Combined Operations
Against Charleston During the Civil War).  The seminar  will
be  held in Hull Building Room 132 on the Longwood Campus in
Farmville, Virginia.  Sessions will begin at 9:30 and end at
4:00.   Admission  is  FREE.   Contact  Dr.   David Coles at
434-395-2220 for additional information.                    


Brandy Station Tour

Clark  B.   Hall  will  lead   a   special   tour   of   the
little-visited  sites  at  the Brandy Station battlefield on
March 15.  The tour will cover the back reaches of the  site
as well as "hidden" and difficult fords.  There will be lots
of walking, and participants will often  have  to  negotiate
muddy  areas.  The cost is $15 per person, and checks should
be made out to the Brandy  Station  Foundation.   Send  your
checks  to  Sam Craghead, 4361F Lakefield Mews, Richmond, VA
23231.  Participants will be traveling by car from Richmond,
so  if  you  are willing to be a driver please let Sam know.
The group will leave Richmond early enough to arrive in  the
Brandy Station area about 8 a. m.                           


Museum of the Confederacy's 8th Annual Celebrate South Weekend

The Museum of the Confederacy's 8th annual  Celebrate  South
Weekend,   commemorating  Southern  culture  and  Civil  War
history, will be held April  3-6.   Honoring  the  state  of
Florida  this  year, the four-day weekend will bring Florida
cuisine, entertainment and heritage to life in Richmond,  as
guests  participate in an array of activities ranging from a
silent and live auction, battlefield tour, formal ball,  and
more.   Attendees from throughout the country and around the
world will enjoy learning  about  Civil  War  history  while
indulging in the sunshine state's delicious cooking, festive
entertainment, and learning about  some  of  Florida's  most
significant  Civil  War artifacts.  All proceeds benefit The
Museum  of  the  Confederacy,  a   non-profit   organization
dedicated   to   the   preservation  and  education  of  the
Confederacy and its role in the Civil War.                  

The  weekend  will  kick  off  with  a  lecture  and   slide
presentation by Dr.  Sam Margolin, the nautical archeologist
who co-directed the surveys of the historic C.S.S.   Florida
and  U.S.S.  Cumberland in 1981.  Margolin will share slides
from his journey to the bottom of the James River, where  he
and  a  team  of  archaeologists uncovered a number of items
from the Florida,  the  Confederate  commerce  raider  whose
legendary career ended when she collided with another vessel
and sank  off  the  coast  of  Newport  News,  Virginia,  in
November of 1864.  Attendees will have the first opportunity
to view some of these artifacts on  display  at  the  Museum
along  with  other  items relating to the Florida.  Personal
effects and cartes-de-visite of the officers, including  the
sword  of  John  Maffitt,  the  ship's  captain,  will be on
display.  Featured items will also include an 1861 builder's
model and a watercolor drawing by Herbert Dent.             

Surrounded  by  the  unique  d‚cor  of  the historic Bolling
Haxall House in  downtown  Richmond,  guests  will  dine  on
Florida-inspired  cuisine  and  bid  on extraordinary pieces
ranging from contemporary Civil War artwork and reproduction
items  to  vacation  packages  and  antiques  as part of the
Homecoming Gala Reception and Auction on Friday evening.   A
sampling  of  some  of  the  specific items include a framed
print of Candlelight  and  Roses  by  renowned  contemporary
Civil  War  artist  Mort Kunstler, 1st Edition Gone With the
Wind plate, and a one-week stay for two at  an  ocean  front
condo  in Myrtle Beach.  Throughout the evening, guests will
enjoy an open-bar and live  music  as  they  participate  in
silent and live auctioning.                                 

The  8th  annual  ball,  The  Sunshine  Soiree, will be held
Saturday evening in the grand setting of the Country Club of
Virginia.   Decked  out in period dress or black tie attire,
guests will dance the night away to the Southern  sounds  of
the  2nd  South  Carolina  String Band.  While mingling with
friends, all will delight in the spread of Florida  cuisine,
including conk fritters and key-lime pie.                   

The  annual event now known as Celebrate South originated in
1996 as the Bonnie Blue Centennial Ball,  a  kick-off  event
for  the  Museum's  Centennial Celebration.  In 1997, it was
decided that each year a different state of the South  would
be  honored  and soon after more events were added, until it
became a weekend full of educational activities as  well  as
the formal ball.  The event has attracted guests from across
the country in 20 states  and  from  throughout  the  world,
including   Germany,   England,   and   Canada.    For  more
information, please call the Museum of  the  Confederacy  at
804-649-1861, ext. 44.                                      


Lincoln Symposium

The Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is
pleased  to announce that on March 22, there will be a major
educational seminar to be held in Richmond,  Virginia.   The
Foundation  for  American  Education  and  Rockwell.com will
jointly sponsor an educational symposium on Abraham  Lincoln
which  will  critically  analyze  the 16th President and his
place in American history.  The Symposium will  be  held  at
the  John Marshall Hotel in downtown Richmond beginning at 9
a.m.  on  March  22  and  lasting  until  4:30  p.m.   Hotel
information will be forthcoming.                            

The  following  scholars  are  scheduled   to   participate:
Professor  Thomas DiLorenzo, Loyola University of Maryland -
"The Politics and Economics of Reconstruction;" Dr.   Thomas
Fleming, Chronicles Editor - "Lincoln and Racism;" Dr.  Scott
Trask, Research Fellow, Mises Institute, Auburn University -
"Northern  Opposition  to Lincoln;" Dr.  Donald Livingstone,
Emory  University  -  "Lincoln  and   Slavery;"   Dr.    Joe
Stromberg, Rothland Research Fellow, Mises Institute, Auburn
University - "Lincoln and Total War;" and John  Chodes,  New
York City Playwright - Northern Opposition to Lincoln."     


RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2003


Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Art & Carol Bergeron, Editors
3901 Paces Ferry Road
Chester, VA 23831-1239