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rcwrt.org
Bill Welsch, President               Gary Cowardin, Editor    
10708 Rocket Dr.                     1404 Lorraine Ave.       
Glen Allen, VA 23060                 Richmond, VA 23227-3735  
wmwelsch@comcast.net                 cowardin@juno.com        

"The Cruise and Pursuit of the Last Confederate Raider: Shenandoah" by Sam Craghead 7:30pm, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at the First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA.,
4602 Cary Street Road, 23226. A parking lot is available behind the church with an entrance off the parking lot to the right and up a few steps into the DINING HALL on the left. Our own Sam Craghead is a contributor to a number of Civil War and naval books including consulting on one by Clive Cussler. Sam was born and raised in Missouri and is a graduate of Truman State University. After college, he served on active duty in the U.S. Navy. With two exceptions Sam's relatives served in the Navy in World War II. He grew up with their stories. He got the same admonition from all: When you go in the service, go in the Navy. You'll have a dry bed and three hot meals a day and you will learn that is the most important thing in your life when you are in the military. He followed that advice and found it to be true. He also concentrated his interest in military history to the sea and navies. He is a retired computer engineer for an aerospace government contractor and currently serves as Public Relations Manager for the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia. He has spoken before many organizations and groups, including Civil War Round Tables, civic organizations, and heritage organizations. He presented talks at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, the Williamstown, Australia Maritime Association, the Melbourne Club, the Mariners' Museum, Mystic Seaport, Maritime Heritage Conferences, and the U.S. Naval Academy's Naval History Symposiums. He is an Honorary Member of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia, Inc., a founding officer and Past Vice President of the Powhatan Civil War Round Table and a Past President of the Richmond Civil War Round Table and the Richmond Battlefields Association. Sam is the author of several articles having to do with the Civil War, the Civil War navies, and The Museum of the Confederacy and has authored book reviews for the American Civil War Center at Louisiana State University and the Naval Historical Foundation. He is a member of the Naval Historical Foundation, the U.S. Naval Institute, the Company of Military Historians, and a Charter Member of the Center for for International Maritime Security. Meeting Attendance for February: 101 NOTE: Please put on your NAME BADGE on when you arrive for the meeting. (They will be on a table near the back or side of the room.)
Message from Our President This message will be essentially financial rather than historical. Over the last months, the executive committee has been reviewing the state of the Round Table's finances. We've learned that for the last few years, expenses have exceeded our income from all sources. This has served to reduce our reserve resources. The two main reasons for this are the Round Table's subsidy support of the annual dinner, where members have been paying on average $10 less per person than the actual cost, and the speaker budget. The speaker budgets for both this year and next year were fashioned with the need to reduce costs. Committee members are negotiating in an attempt to keep the dinner price reasonable for all members, but still sufficient to cover our dinner costs, without subsidy. The executive committee has determined that the dinner must essentially pay for itself. The same must hold true for the field trip, where all costs will easily be covered if sufficient members attend. Please sign up to follow Stuart. This is simply meant as an alert to our situation. More details will be presented at the next few meetings, where there will be an opportunity for the membership to provide input. We are also seeking a member with some financial expertise to assist us in restructuring our bookkeeping system. If anyone can assist, please contact me at wmwelsch@comcast.net or see me at the meeting. To clarify, the situation is by no means desperate, but certainly one that needs some adjustment for the future financial wellbeing of the RCWRT. Thank you for your anticipated assistance. And to end on a historical note, here's a relatively new blog spot from our friend author Bob O'Neill. Bob spoke to us in June, 2013, on Union cavalry in northern Virginia. His blog "Small But Important Riots" has a definite cavalry focus. Enjoy: smallbutimportantriots.com Bill
The RCWRT has a current 2016 membership of 148 members. Please welcome our new 2016 members: William Abbitt, Francis Cherry, Jr., Carolyn Knoeller, David Mueller, Art Wingo, and Peter Wyeth. New memberships are welcome throughout the year.
Annual Field Trip: Stuart's Ride around the Union Army! Saturday, June 18th, 9:00-4:00, $35/person Historian John Fox, author of Stuart's Finest Hour, will narrate the tour using Union, Confederate and civilian accounts as we follow the route of Stuart and his Federal pursuers. Stops will be made at key points, beginning at Hanover Tavern where blue and gray cavalrymen exchanged gunfire in the first encounter of the expedition. We'll then continue southeast to Taliaferro's Mills, Haws Shop, Totopotomoy Creek Bridge, Linney's Corner, and Old Church before crossing into New Kent County where we'll pass Tunstalls Station and Baltimore Store. We'll head south to the famous Chickahominy River crossing site at Forge Bridge, then cross into Charles City County. Then we'll head west on the old James River Road (Rte. 5) where we'll pass the Rowland house before turning back to Richmond. We'll be meeting at the same parking lot we have used several times in the past few years: North Park Shopping Center at Parham and Brook Roads (8001 Brook Road). Please plan on packing a lunch. We'll be stopping at New Kent Winery for a picnic lunch. Water bottles will be provided. Don't miss this one, folks! John Mosby, one of Stuart's lead scouts observed, "Richmond is in fine spirits...everybody says it is the greatest feat of the war." Look for sign-up sheets at the March, April, and May meetings. The price is $35/person. Bring your checks to the April meeting, or mail them to: (Make the checks out to RCWRT) Elaine Duckworth 2508 Hanover Ave. Richmond, Virginia 23220 Any trip questions call Elaine at: (804)447-0252
Help Us Save Postage Costs If you have an E-mail address and internet access and are not currently receiving your newsletter notification via E-mail please let me have your NAME and E-mail address. My E-mail address is:
cowardin@juno.com (You can also use this link to change E-mail addressess just click my E-mail address above. If you are changing an E-mail address be sure to include the old address.)
Civil War Trust For the latest CWT news visit: www.civilwar.org
Upcoming Events/Links
May 27-29, in Lexington 16th Biennial Stonewall Jackson Symposium www.stonewalljackson.org/symposium2016.html
National Park Service Richmond
Richmond Battlefields Association News & Events www.saverichmondbattlefields.org/events.htm
Visit The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar www.tredegar.org
Pamplin Historical Park and The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier www.pamplinpark.org and their Special Events Calendar
Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours civilwarseminars.org
RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2016


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