Registration Open for Gettysburg National Military Park Lecture Series

Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg Foundation are proud to present the 2010 Gettysburg Seminar, to be held in Gettysburg on April 10-11. The theme of the seminar is the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg and the end of the Pennsylvania Campaign. Presentations will provide seminar participants with a variety of subjects from the experience of Robert E. Lee's retreat to the Potomac River, to the enormous job of caring for the wounded, an evaluation of the generals’ decisions, and the cleanup of the battlefield.

The 2010 Gettysburg Seminar will begin on Saturday morning with a series of lectures to take place in the ballroom of the historic Gettysburg Hotel on Lincoln Square in downtown Gettysburg. The lectures will be followed with a variety of battlefield walking tours and bus visits to important sites relative to the aftermath of the battle and campaign.

Saturday night's social will begin with "An Evening with the Painting: The Gettysburg Cyclorama," a guided presentation about the famous cyclorama painting of "Pickett's Charge" given by Licensed Battlefield Guide Sue Boardman, followed by "Our Hearts Were Touched With Fire," a living history presentation featuring the voices of those who experienced the battle and its aftermath, first hand. The personalities presented will include: Henry Eyster Jacobs, who was an 18 year old Gettysburg College student at the time of the battle; Sallie Myers, a Gettysburg school teacher at the time of the battle; a composite character representing a Confederate soldier; nd Almira Russell Hancock, wife of Union General Winfield Scott Hancock.

The seminar will conclude on Sunday in the ballroom of the Hotel Gettysburg with a final series of lectures focusing on the experiences of soldiers and civilians in the horrific aftermath of the battle.

The registration fee for the Gettysburg Seminar is $90 per person and the seminar is limited to 240 participants. For a complete schedule of lectures, field programs, and presenters and to register go to the park’s website at:

http://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/2010-gettysburg-seminar.htm

Information is also available by calling Park Ranger Evangelina Rubalcava (717) 334-1124, ext. 3251.

Something Must Be Done About This!

The Longstreet Society sent this along in hopes that we will spread the word and write a letter or send an email to help set at least this record straight.

The Houghton Mifflin publication The American Heritage College Dictionary (4th edition, 2007) contains the following entry:

Longstreet, James, 1821-1904. American Confederate general whose delay in carrying out orders contributed to the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg (1863).

We'd like Houghton Mifflin to know that this entry is inaccurate and ask them to change the entry for the next edition of their dictionary. Please send an email to dictionaries@hmco.com or drop a note to:
Dictionary Editorial Department
Houghton Mifflin Company
222 Berkeley Street, 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02116

If they get enough polite and sincere emails and letters from us, they might take notice and make the change. If would be best if we all wrote our own original emails but, if you prefer, you can cut and paste this note into your email.

Dear Houghton Mifflin Editorial Department-
Your publications have outstanding reputations as learning and teaching tools and we know that you take pride in them. But the entry for General James Longstreet in your American Heritage College Dictionary is factually inaccurate and based on what is now accepted as misrepresentation and bad history. We of the Longstreet Society sincerely hope that you will investigate the matter and update the entry to reflect the modern and accepted historical view that Longstreet served General Lee, his soldiers and the Confederate cause appropriately and admirably at Gettysburg.(Suggested sources-Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History by William Garrett Piston, University of Georgia Press, 1987; I Have Been a Soldier All My Life by Carol Reardon, Farnsworth Military Impressions, 1997.)

For more information or to become a member of the Longstreet Society, write P.O.Box 191 Gainesville GA 30503, call 770-539-9005 or email old_pete@bellsouth.net.

Thanks!
Kristie Poehler, Editor
Battlefield Journal

Gettysburg NMP Offers Winter Lecture Series--Put these on your Calendar!

Weapons of the battle, Lee’s retreat and Meade’s pursuit from Gettysburg, and the experience of battle on July 2 are among the topics of the 2010 National Park Service series of free winter lectures, “Gettysburg: Perspectives on the Battle and Campaign at Gettysburg National Military Park.”

National Park Rangers will offer the programs on weekends beginning Sunday, Jan. 10 and running through Sunday, Feb. 28. They are free of charge and will be held at the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, in the Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center.

Programs begin at 1:30 p.m. and last approximately one hour.

The programs for 2010, along with the NPS Ranger presenting the program, are:

Sunday, Jan. 10 – Colonel Sharpe and The Bureau of Military Information (Angie Atkinson)

Saturday, Jan. 16 – Think Bigger – Gettysburg in Space and Time (Troy Harmon)

Saturday, Jan. 23 – Civil War Maladies – The Cases of Robert E. Lee, A.P. Hill and Richard Ewell (Matt Atkinson)

Sunday, Jan. 24 – E. P. Alexander and Resolving Conflicting Accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg (Karlton Smith)

Saturday, Jan. 30 – The Weapons of Gettysburg (Tom Holbrook)

Saturday, Feb. 6 – The Veterans and the Battlefield: How Veterans Shaped the Gettysburg Battlefield Park (John Heiser)

Sunday, Feb. 7 – “To Judge and Act for Myself” – The Experiences of Colonel Charles Wainwright, Soldier & Democrat (Bert Barnett)

Saturday, Feb. 13 – “Unwilling Witness to the Rage of Gettysburg” – The Experience of Battle on July 2 (D. Scott Hartwig)

Sunday, Feb. 14 – The Federal Fight When it Wasn’t – The 24 Hours Between July 1 Collapse and July 2 Battle (Chuck Teague)

Saturday, Feb. 20 – Lee’s Retreat and Meade’s Pursuit (Troy Harman)

Sunday, Feb. 21 – Gettysburg, The Turning Point… But Not as You Think (Bill Hewitt)

Saturday, Feb. 27 – “More May Have Been Required of Them Than They Were Able to Perform” – Pickett’s Charge (Matt Atkinson)

Sunday, Feb. 28 – Pettigrew and Trimble: New Insights Into the Other Half of Pickett’s Charge (Karlton Smith)

For more information, visit Gettysburg National Military Park’s website at www.nps.gov/gett or call (717) 334-1124, ext. 8023.

Cedar Creek Historical Commission to Meet

The next meeting of the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical
Park Advisory Commission will be held on Thursday December 17, 2009 at the
Warren Government Center, 220 North Commerce Avenue, Front Royal, Virginia. The meeting will begin at 8:30 am and is open to the public.

The draft General Management Plan and its implementation will be the main
subject of the meeting.

Individuals who are interested in the national park system or the business
of the Park Advisory Commission are encouraged to attend the December 17,
2009 meeting. Questions may be directed to Diann Jacox, Park
Superintendent, (540) 868-9176.

Upcoming Holiday Concert!

The Prince William County Historic Preservation Division will host Holiday Concerts on Saturday, December 12, 2009. Two concerts featuring songs of the season will be held at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre, 12229 Bristow Road, Bristow, VA 20136.

The 5 p.m. concert will be performed by the Brentsville District High School Women’s Treble Ensemble and the 6 p.m. concert will be a performance by the Brentsville District Mixed Vocal Ensemble. The concerts will take place in the historic ca. 1870 Union Church. The public will also have a chance to enjoy refreshments by a bonfire. This event is free to the public.

Brentsville served as the county seat of Prince William County from 1822-1893, it was the political and social center of the county. The Historic Centre consists of five historic structures on 24 acres of parkland. The site interprets the history of Brentsville and its role in local history. Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre is located at 12229 Bristow Rd., Bristow, VA 20136.

For more information, please contact Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre at (703) 365-7895 or www.pwcgov.org/brentsville.

7th Annual Remembrance Illumination at Gettysburg

The Gettysburg Foundation will present the 7th annual Remembrance Illumination this Saturday, Nov. 21, from 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Sponsored by the Gettysburg Foundation, this popular event drew an estimated 2,500 visitors last year.

At Soliders’ National Cemetery, more than 3,500 luminary candles will be lit on the graves of Civil War soldiers, “Taps” will be played every half hour and the names of the Civil War soldiers buried in the Cemetery will be continuously read during the event. Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Honor Guard will participate in the Remembrance Illumination.

At 5:30 p.m., Capt. Patrick Shea of the USS Gettysburg, homeported in Mayport, Fla., will light five candles—one for each branch of our armed forces. Capt. Shea will be welcomed by Rear Adm. Richard A. Buchanan (US Navy, ret.), Gettysburg Foundation president. Shea will be lighting candles in the Pennsylvania section of the Cemetery. (Buchanan is a retired rear admiral in the Navy.)

The event is free and open to the public.

WHO: Gettysburg Foundation

WHAT: 7th Annual Remembrance Illumination

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 21, 5:30-9:30 p.m.
NOTE: PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: 5:30 p.m.: USS Gettysburg Captain Patrick Shea will light candles in the Pennsylvania section of the Cemetery and will be welcomed by Gettysburg Foundation President Richard A. Buchanan.

WHERE: Soldiers’ National Cemetery, Gettysburg

INCLEMENT WEATHER STATEMENT: Please note that the Remembrance Illumination is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Nov. 21 UNLESS torrential rain or high winds occur. In the event of inclement weather, cancellation announcements will be posted on the Web site www.gettysburgfoundation.org under “Latest News.” There is no rain date for the event.

Carol Reardon Gives Tour for Longstreet Society

One of the tours given during the recent Longstreet Society conference in Gettysburg was about Pickett's Charge. Dr. Reardon is an expert on the subject after writing a book about Pickett's Charge a few years back. Despite the gloomy weather, the attendees were excited about crossing the field that Pickett and his men did back in 1863. The tour was enlightening to say the least!

Dr. Reardon's soldiers coming over the swale--almost to the copse of trees!

More conference photos coming soon!
Battlefield Journal