Upcoming CCWRT Program
Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.

February 2026 Charger Uploaded

The February 2026 issue of The Charger has been uploaded onto the Roundtable’s website. The February 2026 issue can be accessed by clicking on this link.

2026 Dick Crews Memorial Debate Posted on the Roundtable’s Website

The annual Dick Crews Memorial Debate took place at the January 2026 Roundtable meeting. This year’s topic addressed the question, “Other than Ohio, what was the most important state, North or South, during the Civil War era?” Four members of the Roundtable prepared arguments to present their opinion on this question: Ryan Bailey (who chose South Carolina), Jack Prause (who chose Virginia), Don Iannone (who chose New York), and David Parchem (who chose Illinois). William Vodrey again served as moderator. Each of the arguments was insightful and engaging, and each of the debaters made a compelling case. The arguments that each debater presented are now posted on the Roundtable’s website and are well worth reading. The 2026 debate can be accessed by clicking on this link.

Visitors to the Roundtable from the Land of George Armstrong Custer

The January 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable featured the annual Dick Crews Memorial Debate. That meeting also had another special feature, because Bob and Pat Miller of the Monroe County (Michigan) Civil War Round Table were in attendance. They became aware of the debate thanks to Cleveland Roundtable member Steve Pettyjohn. Steve spoke to the Monroe County Round Table last August and gave his presentation “The Three General Presidents – Washington, Grant, and Eisenhower” (which he gave to the Cleveland Roundtable on October 9, 2024). At the meeting in Monroe, Steve chatted with members of that group, including Bob and Pat, about how our Roundtable operates. Bob and Pat had checked our website and were interested in a number of our initiatives. They were visiting friends in the Cleveland area in January and decided to attend the meeting. According to Steve, Bob and Pat were very interested in our debate and how we handled it, and they were impressed and had a good time witnessing the debate and visiting with our members. We are happy to hear that our visitors from Custer’s boyhood home enjoyed the debate. The Cleveland Roundtable thanks Bob and Pat for coming to our January meeting and spending time with us.

February 2026 Roundtable Meeting: “Citizenship and Politics: How They Evolved during and after the Civil War”

The February 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable will take place on February 11, 2026 beginning at 6:00 p.m. This will be an in-person meeting. The speaker will be Brian K. Mitchell, and the title of his presentation is “Citizenship and Politics: How They Evolved during and after the Civil War.”

Brian K. Mitchell, Ph.D. will discuss his book, Monumental, about Reconstruction and the appointment of Oscar Dunn to serve as acting governor of Louisiana. Dunn, the first African American to be the lieutenant governor of a U.S. state, served during Reconstruction. Dunn also became the first African American to be the acting governor of a state when Louisiana’s governor had to leave the state to recuperate from an injury. Dunn was born into slavery, and during Reconstruction he worked for the implementation of rights to Blacks, such as the right to vote. Moreover, he did this at a time when white supremacists were attempting to regain power in Louisiana through racist laws and violence. Dunn, who was an honest, generous, and effective government official, died in office under suspicious circumstances. A monument planned for him shortly after his death was never built when proponents of the Lost Cause came to power and suppressed the factual history of Black accomplishments during Reconstruction and replaced that with a narrative that Black politicians were incompetent.

Dr. Brian K. Mitchell, a native of New Orleans and a frequent speaker at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, received a Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans in 2011. His Ph.D. is in urban studies with a concentration in public history. Mitchell’s writing and research deal primarily with race, violence, and the Elaine Massacre. He is the author of numerous papers, book chapters, and books, and he is nationally recognized for his public history and digital humanities projects.

The February 2026 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). Reservations must be made no later than eight days before the meeting (i.e., no later than February 3, 2026). When making a reservation, please include your name and the number and names of any guests. Please also indicate the meal choice for you (and any guests). The three meal options are braised beef pot roast, penne chicken broccolini, and stacked eggplant parmesan. If a reservation needs to be canceled, it must be canceled no later than February 10, 2026. Dinner will be provided to anyone who has a reservation. The cost of dinner is $35 per person. It is not necessary to purchase dinner in order to attend the meeting, but reservations are requested from everyone in order to have sufficient chairs set up in the meeting room. Those who plan to attend the meeting without purchasing dinner should indicate “no dinner” when they make a reservation. Other details can be found on the Reservations web page by clicking on this link.

Meeting Summary, January 2026: Dick Crews Memorial Debate – “Other than Ohio, what was the most important state, North or South, during the Civil War era?”

The January 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable featured the annual Dick Crews Memorial Debate. The topic was “Other than Ohio, what was the most important state, North or South, during the Civil War era?” As in past debates, William Vodrey served as the debate’s moderator. The format for the 2026 debate was like that of past debates. Each debater had five minutes to present an argument. Then, after each debater’s presentation, that debater fielded questions from the meeting’s attendees. This was followed by an open discussion period (the so-called “scrum”) in which all four debaters fielded questions from the audience and also gave questions or comments to each other. The order for the presentations was determined randomly.

The first presentation was by Ryan Bailey, who argued that, other than Ohio, South Carolina was the most important state during the Civil War era. Ryan stated that South Carolina served as an ideological engine for the South and was the leader of secession. Because secession is what precipitated the Civil War, this made South Carolina the most important state. Ryan also indicated that South Carolina produced the strongest arguments in support of slavery, such as the assertion that slavery was morally good, that the Constitution protected slavery, that slavery was the cornerstone of the South, and that the Union, under its domination by the Northern free states, was incompatible with slavery. Moreover, Ryan pointed out that South Carolina pushed Southern politics toward extremism and radicalism and framed sectional differences as an existential struggle. Ryan further asserted that South Carolina was a strong proponent for the use of violence, if necessary, to achieve secession, and this provided the impetus for the Southern states to go to war in order to secede. In addition, Ryan noted that South Carolina viewed submission as dishonor. Ryan stated that all of these aspects of South Carolina transformed a Constitutional crisis into armed conflict and made war not just possible but inevitable. Ryan concluded that taken together this makes South Carolina the most important state, other than Ohio, during the Civil War era.

Jack Prause gave the second presentation and argued that Virginia was the most important state, other than Ohio, in the Civil War era. Jack cited four principal reasons for this: battlefields, military leaders, farms to produce foodstuffs, and industry to produce war materiel. With regard to battlefields, Virginia was the location of more Civil War battles than any other state. Jack noted that 123 battles occurred in Virginia, and he further stated that because the Confederacy’s capital of Richmond was located in Virginia, this made Virginia a magnet for battles as multiple attempts by the Union to capture Richmond led to repeated invasions which resulted in many battles. As Jack pointed out, many of the battles in Virginia were of major significance. In addition, Virginia gave the Confederacy some of its best military leaders, such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jeb Stuart and also gave the Union George H. Thomas, who was a very effective military leader in the Union army. Moreover, Virginia, with its large farming areas such as the Shenandoah Valley, was the breadbasket of the Confederacy. Jack also said that Virginia, with its strong industrial capability due to places such as the Tredegar Iron Works, was able to supply the Confederacy with abundant amounts of manufactured products. Jack asserted that all of these considerations made Virginia the most important state, other than Ohio, in the Civil War era.

The third debater to present was Don Iannone, who argued on behalf of New York as the most important state, other than Ohio, during the Civil War era. Don began with a brief discussion that encapsulated his views on what constitutes the importance of a Civil War-era state. He asserted that a state’s relative importance is determined by its capacity to carry the nation through the conflict. Don followed this by referring to a placard on which were written four words in support of New York’s importance: men, money, movement, and mind. He then proceeded to explain each of these four words in reference to New York’s importance. With regard to men, Don pointed out that New York supplied more men for the Civil War than any other state. In addition, New York, to a higher degree than any other state, had the institutions that could borrow money to provide funding for the war. New York also had excellent ports for the movement of resources to support the war effort. Lastly, the state of New York is the location of West Point Military Academy, which provided many of the military minds for the Civil War on both sides. Thus, Don concluded that, other than Ohio, New York was the most important state in the Civil War era by virtue of its superior capability to provide men, money, movement, and mind.

The last presentation was by David Parchem, who argued that Illinois was the most important state, other than Ohio, during the Civil War era. David stated that the three most important men for the Union victory came from Illinois, these three men being Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Elihu Washburne. David noted that Lincoln was the person who led the United States during the Civil War and whose determination made the nation persevere through the war in spite of horrendous loss of life and demoralizing military defeats. Also, Lincoln, through his inspiring words, was an essential source of psychological comfort to the nation in the darkest times, and Lincoln had the insight to select the best military person to oversee the war effort. This led David to the second of the three important Illinoisans, Ulysses Grant. Grant won many of the decisive battles of the war, such as Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and the Overland Campaign. David also pointed out that Grant increased the effectiveness of the Union army by promulgating the strategy of coordinated attacks and by not withdrawing after a setback. As for Elihu Washburne, he was instrumental in bringing Grant into the Union army, for supporting Grant when Grant’s superiors lost confidence in him, and for urging Lincoln to promote Grant. David asserted that without Washburne the nation probably does not have Grant in charge of the army. David concluded that because Lincoln, Grant, and Washburne came from Illinois, this makes Illinois the most important state, other than Ohio, in the Civil War era.

After all of the debaters made their presentations and answered questions individually, the “scrum” took place, during which the debaters were given the opportunity to rebut statements made by the other debaters. This proved to be civil and cordial but also a lively exchange of information and opinions. Then the attendees at the meeting voted to decide which of the debaters made the strongest case for the most important state, other than Ohio, during the Civil War era. The attendees selected Jack Prause as the debater who made the strongest case, and Jack then received fabulous prizes.

The Roundtable thanks Ryan Bailey, Don Iannone, David Parchem, and Jack Prause for their excellent presentations and for a memorable debate. The Roundtable also thanks William Vodrey for moderating the debate and for all his work in organizing the debate.

Latest History Brief (December 2025) Posted

Roundtable Historian Dan Ursu’s December 2025 history brief has been posted. Dan’s latest history brief is Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, Part 2, Resaca to Allatoona Pass. Dan’s history brief continues his discussion of William Tecumseh Sherman’s pivotal Atlanta Campaign, and it can be accessed by clicking on this link.

Roundtable 2026 Field Trip – Save the Dates

The Roundtable’s 2026 field trip is scheduled for September 17-20, 2026 to the Shenandoah Valley to study the 1862 Valley Campaign. A block of rooms has been reserved, and the itinerary has some very enticing activities on it. As of now, the following activities have been scheduled for the 2026 field trip: the First Battle of Kernstown, the Battle of Front Royal, the First Battle of Winchester, the Battle of Cross Keys, and the Battle of Port Republic. Check back for updates. A downloadable PDF containing information about the hotel, the tentative itinerary, and information about signing up for the field trip can be found by clicking on this link.

Report of the 2025 Roundtable Field Trip to Vicksburg

Steve Pettyjohn wrote an excellent report of the 2025 Roundtable field trip to Vicksburg. This report is supplemented with outstanding photographs which were generously provided by Jose Esparza, and Steve also provided photographs. The report is a great way for those who were not able to go on the field trip to read about what took place, and the report is a nice way for those who went on the field trip to relive their experiences. The report of the 2025 field trip can be accessed by clicking on this link.

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 has been posted on our Facebook page or Twitter account, you do not have to become a member of the Roundtable. Everyone is welcome to view our Facebook page and Twitter account. These can also be accessed by googling “Cleveland Civil War Roundtable” and either “Facebook” or “Twitter” and clicking on the appropriate link in the search results.