Upcoming CCWRT Program
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 6:00 pm

December 2021 Roundtable Meeting: “J.E.B. Stuart and the Gettysburg Campaign”

The December 2021 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable will take place on December 8, 2021 beginning at 6:00 p.m. This will be an in-person meeting. Our speaker will be Eric Wittenberg, Esq., and the title of his presentation is “J.E.B. Stuart and the Gettysburg Campaign.”

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Independence (6001 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio 44131). Reservations should be made by sending an email to the Roundtable’s reservation email account (ccwrtreserve@gmail.com) or by phoning 440-449-9311. Reservations must be made no later than five days before the meeting (i.e., no later than December 3, 2021). When making a reservation, please include your name and the number and names of any guests. If a reservation needs to be canceled, it must be canceled no later than December 7, 2021. Dinner will be provided for anyone who has a reservation. The cost of dinner is $35 per attendee. Other details can be found on the Reservations web page by clicking on this link.

Eric Wittenberg is an award-winning historian, blogger, speaker, and tour guide. His specialty is Civil War cavalry operations, and much of his work has focused on the Gettysburg Campaign. He is the author of 18 published books on the Civil War and more than three dozen articles that have appeared in various national magazines. He is also deeply involved in battlefield preservation work and often assists the Civil War Trust with its efforts. In addition, he is a member of the Governor of Ohio’s Advisory Commission on the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

Eric is a native of southeastern Pennsylvania and was educated at Dickinson College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is an attorney in private practice. He and his wife, Susan, and their three golden retrievers reside in Columbus, Ohio.

November 2021 Roundtable Meeting Recap: “Jefferson Davis as Leader of the Southern War Effort”

The November 2021 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable featured an exceptional presentation by Dr. Mary DeCredico, Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy, who spoke about Jefferson Davis as the leader of the Confederate war effort. Dr. DeCredico did a superb job of discussing the enormous challenges that Davis faced as the person who was charged with directing the effort by the Confederacy to separate from the U.S. and form its own nation.

Dr. DeCredico noted that Davis, a Jacksonian Democrat who was greatly influenced by John C. Calhoun, was chosen by his compatriots for this position due primarily to the fact that he was a moderate with regard to secession, because the other Confederate political leaders were hesitant to have one of the fire-eaters leading the Confederacy. She also indicated that Davis, like many other Confederate leaders, believed that the Confederacy was the legitimate successor to the American Revolution, and this was conveyed by them in the seal for their breakaway country, which included an image of George Washington.

As Dr. DeCredico discussed, Davis, a mediocre student at West Point, was a very good secretary of war, but was less effective in his military handling of the Civil War. In particular, Davis was unduly loyal to certain Confederate military leaders, and Dr. DeCredico specifically mentioned keeping Braxton Bragg in command of an army as a major blunder by Davis. Dr. DeCredico gave a very balanced assessment of Davis’s leadership of the Confederate war effort. During the question-and-answer session after her formal presentation, Dr. DeCredico displayed her extensive historical knowledge as she gave excellent answers to a wide array of questions.

One of the highlights of the meeting was when it was mentioned that Dr. Credico was born in Cleveland and to this day remains a fan of the Cleveland Browns. Dr. DeCredico’s presentation was outstanding and was another in the series of excellent speakers that Roundtable President Mark Porter has put together for the 2021-2022 season.

Latest History Brief (October 2021) Now Posted

Roundtable historian Dan Ursu’s October 2021 history brief has been posted. Dan’s latest history brief describes the valiant stand of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment on Snodgrass Hill at Chickamauga and discusses the importance of this stand for the overall Union war effort. Dan’s latest history brief is The Battle of Chickamauga: The 21st Ohio at Snodgrass Hill.

2021-2022 Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Program

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted many things, and the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable was no exception. Thanks to the magnificent efforts of 2020-2021 Roundtable president Steve Pettyjohn, the Roundtable was able to have an excellent season of meetings and a field trip. These efforts included remote meetings and a change in timing of the typically early autumn field trip. Now that the unprecedented and eventful 2020-2021 season of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable is finished, it is time to look forward to the Roundtable’s next season. Mark Porter, the 2021-2022 Roundtable president, has organized the program for the next season of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, and that program is now posted on our website. More information can be found below regarding the resumption of meetings in September 2021.

Membership Roster and Contact Information

We have worked very hard to improve our membership database and contact information this year, but we know we probably have more work to do. Please be sure to keep us advised of changes in contact information by sending us the information at clecwrt@gmail.com. We monitor that email account on a regular basis, so this would be a big help in making sure we can keep you informed of group activities. If you want to see what Lily Korte has been posting on Twitter and Facebook, you don’t have to join or anything like that. Just google either “Cleveland Civil War Roundtable” and either “Facebook” or “Twitter” and you can see our posts.

New Recruits in the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable

New members in the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable are encouraged to introduce themselves to the group by emailing a photograph and a short biography to the Roundtable (clecwrt@gmail.com). If you don’t want to send a picture or bio, just let us know and give us approval to post your name on the website as a new member.