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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260507T191500
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DTSTAMP:20260514T154809
CREATED:20260423T184218Z
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UID:3753-1778181300-1778185800@cvbt.org
SUMMARY:Free Zoom Program - CVBT President Tom Van Winkle
DESCRIPTION:Tom Van Winkle   Gives a talk on:\n\n\n\nCentral Virginia Battlefield Trust – Land Preservation and the 23rd USCT Battlefield Acquisition\n\n\n\n\nFree Zoom Presentation Sponsored by The African Americans in the Civil War Era Round Table \n\n\n\n\n\nThomas Van Winkle has been a member of the CVBT Board of Directors and has held the position of CVBT Communications Director since 2007. In May of 2016 Tom was elected President of CVBT. His extensive experience includes roles such as Newsletter Editor\, Battlefield Preservation Director\, Membership Director\, and serving five terms as President of the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield. Additionally\, he has held the position of Secretary for the Friends of Fredericksburg Area Battlefields. \n\n\n\nTom is a prolific writer\, contributing historical and preservation articles to publications such as The Civil War News\, The Free Lance-Star\, Culpeper Star Exponent\, Wilderness Dispatch\, and The Skirmish Line. His work has also appeared in magazines like On the Front Line and Blue & Gray\, as well as chapters in several books. Furthermore\, Tom has demonstrated his talents in film and television as a Producer\, Writer\, Director\, and Editor with Heritage Media\, LLC.\, where he helped create several historical films such as Civil War Fredericksburg: Then & Now\, Fire on the Rappahannock\, and The Dilemma of Robert E. Lee “Contest for the Constitution. Tom also wrote and directed for the local Heritage Media\, LLC.\, cable TV series History Scene. \n\n\n\nBeyond his preservation and writing endeavors\, Tom has built a distinguished career within the financial services sector. Employed by Ally Financial Insurance Division for over 37 years\, Tom has served in a number of specialized roles\, including Automotive Dealer Fixed Operations Specialist\, Loss Cost Control Specialist\, Forensic Auditor\, and Lead Field Staff Trainer in the United States and Canada. \n\n\n\n\nTom will provide an in-depth look at the origins of Civil War battlefield preservation\, sharing how the movement began\, and the steps and dedication required to protect these historic sites. He will recount several interesting and humorous little-known stories related to the purchase of battlefields\, offering unique insights into the challenges and triumphs that have accompanied these efforts over the years. \n\n\n\nIn particular\, Tom will review the journey that led to the acquisition of the first portion of the 1864 23rd USCT battlefield tract in Spotsylvania. He will outline CVBT’s ongoing plans to expand the preserved acreage\, highlighting the organization’s commitment to honoring and safeguarding these important sites for future generations. \n\n\n\nAdditionally\, Tom will discuss many of CVBT’s notable preservation successes throughout its history. As CVBT celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026\, he will share details about upcoming programs and initiatives designed to further the mission of battlefield preservation and public engagement. \n\n\n\n\nMeeting ID: 831 8639 4888 \n\n\n\nPasscode: 438523
URL:https://cvbt.org/event/3753/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260503T130000
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DTSTAMP:20260514T154809
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UID:3700-1777813200-1777827600@cvbt.org
SUMMARY:Critical Decisions & The Battle of Chancellorsville
DESCRIPTION:Hosted by: Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and historian Sarah Kay Bierle \n\n\n\n\n\nMeet at the CVBT Office: 1115 Tyler St\, Fredericksburg\, VA 22401\, later drive and hike at the First Day at Chancellorsville Battlefield. \n\n\n\n\nSOLD OUT! \n\n\n\n\nWhat is a “critical decision”? How did critical decisions unfold during the Battle of Chancellorsville\, fought in Central Virginia during the spring of 1863? Can we match the historic decision process to the places and topography where they happened?  \n\n\n\nA newly released book from the University of Tennessee Press\, Decisions at Chancellorsville by Sarah Kay Bierle\, delves into some answers\, and now we’re offering a unique opportunity to study and explore during the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Chancellorsville. \n\n\n\nJoin the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and historian Sarah Kay Bierle for an afternoon of decisions and battlefield hiking.  \n\n\n\nWe’ll begin with a program at the CVBT Office to overview the Battle of Chancellorsville and explore the definition of critical decisions. Whether you’re a long-time researcher or growing a new interest in local history\, Bierle will make it easy for you to explore battle history and create your own sets of critical decisions to analyze.  \n\n\n\nThen\, we’ll drive west and Bierle will lead a hike at the First Day at Chancellorsville Battlefield for the opportunity to rediscover two critical decisions on the land where they happened. It’s going to be a meaningful afternoon of learning\, hiking\, making decisions\, and the impact of battlefield preservation for understanding military history! \n\n\n\n\n\nCVBT Refund policy \n\n\n\nBefore April 3rd – 50% \n\n\n\nAfter April 3rd – No Refund
URL:https://cvbt.org/event/critical-decisions-the-battle-of-chancellorsville/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250912T080000
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UID:1216-1757664000-1757858400@cvbt.org
SUMMARY:CVBT 2025 Annual Conference
DESCRIPTION:Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse\n\n\n\nGrant’s Second Battle of the Overland Campaign \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSeptember 12-14\, 2025 \n\n\n\n​ Tickets Going Quickly! \n\n\n\n(Silent Auction/Raffles all Evening) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCivil War era music provided by the Second Maryland Fifes and Drums. The fife was used because of its high pitched sound and the drum because of its low pitched sound. Both instruments can be heard from great distances and even through the sounds of a battlefield. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration \n\n\n\n\nRegister Today! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nABOUT SPOTSYLVANIA \n\n\n\nIt is difficult to imagine a time more drenched in blood\, a place more stubbornly defended\, or a contest more emblematic of the Civil War’s grim attrition than the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Fought from May 8 to May 21\, 1864\, this engagement between General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union Army of the Potomac and General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia became known as “A Season of Slaughter.” The battle served as a harrowing chapter in the Overland Campaign\, a relentless struggle for supremacy in the heart of Virginia\, where strategy\, endurance\, and sacrifice wrote the story in crimson lines upon the land. \n\n\n\nThe Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was the second engagement in the Overland Campaign. Grant’s objective was to pursue Lee\, weaken his forces\, and ultimately capture Richmond\, instructing Meade to follow Lee’s movements diligently. \n\n\n\nAt Spotsylvania\, the combined forces of both the Union and Confederate armies numbered 152\,000 combatants. The Union outnumbered the Rebels nearly two to one. When it was all over the estimated casualty figure numbered over 31\,000\, 18\,399 Union and 12\,687 Confederates. \n\n\n\nDespite significant Union casualties\, the Overland Campaign represented a strategic victory for Grant. The battles resulted in higher proportional losses for Lee’s army\, eventually leading to the siege of Petersburg and Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n			\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n			\n\nConference to be held at the Jepson Alumni Executive Center’s Grand Ball Room \n\n\n\n1119 Hanover Street\, Fredericksburg\, VA 22401 \n\n\n\nThe Jepson Alumni Executive Center is located at the top of Trench Hill in historic Fredericksburg\, Virginia. Built as a private home in the 1920s and acquired by the University in 1948\, Trench Hill is named to commemorate the Civil War trenches found on the property \n\n\n\n\nDirections\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n			\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n			\n\nCVBT Accommodations\n\n\n\nA block of rooms has been reserved for CVBT guests at the Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton Fredericksburg – at Celebrate Virginia \n\n\n\n\nDirections\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n			\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n			\n\nReserve a Room\n\n\n\nTo reserve a room please click the reservation link below. Rooms fill up fast so get your accommodations set today! \n\n\n\n\nRoom Reservations\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n			\n\n \n\n\n\nSpecial Entertainment by Members of the Second Maryland Fifes and Drums! \n\n\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n			\n\nMore Great Speakers & Programs\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKen Noe  –   Brian Steel Willis   –   Chris Mackowski \n\n	\n\n\n\n\n			\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n	\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCVBT 2025 Annual Conference Event Schedule\n\n\n\n​Thursday September 11\, 2025 \n\n\n\n“CVBT Generals Only” Special invitation Battlefield Program and Lunch \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n​Friday September 12\, 2025 \n\n\n\n1/2 Day Tour – ​Massaponax Church/Armies March to North Anna \n\n\n\nGuide: Chris Mackowski \n\n\n\nMassaponax Church\, a simple brick building in the Classical Revival style\, was completed in 1859. It was the second church for a congregation founded in 1788. The area around the church changed hands several times during the Civil War\, and the building was used by both Union and Confederate armies as a headquarters.  Photographs taken from the windows of church balcony\, show Grant and his officers meeting in the courtyard\, on pews dragged outside from the church. Chris will also discuss the movement of the armies as they marched toward North Anna. \n\n\n\nDepart CVBT Office 9:00am – bus tour \n\n\n\n1:00 pm Conclude half day tour – return to CVBT office \n\n\n\nSaturday September 13\, 2025 \n\n\n\nTour: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House \n\n\n\nGuide: Chris Mackowski \n\n\n\nDepart CVBT Office 9:00am – bus tour \n\n\n\nLunch 12:00 (Provided) \n\n\n\nConclude 2nd half of tour \n\n\n\nReturn to CVBT Office 4:00pm \n\n\n\nThe Battle of Spotsylvania Court House did not emerge in isolation. It was the direct sequel to the ferocious fighting in the Wilderness\, where\, beginning on May 5\, Grant’s forces had squared off against Lee’s veterans in tangled undergrowth that negated the North’s advantage in numbers. Refusing to retreat after the bloody stalemate\, Grant instead moved his army southeast\, seeking open ground and a chance to outflank Lee. Lee\, ever the tenacious adversary\, anticipated the move.Well-known expert\, historian\, TV personality\, and co-author of “A Season of Slaughter” The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House\, as well as many other titles\, Dr. Chris Mackowski will take us on a tour of sites on the Spotsylvania battlefield\, including Todd’s Tavern\, Spindle Field\, Upton’s Assault\, Lee’s Last Line\, and CVBT- preserved Harris Farm\, among others. Chris will tell the battles story as only he can! \n\n\n\n​Saturday Evening September 13 \,2025 \n\n\n\nCVBT Banquet/Meeting and Keynote Speaker \n\n\n\nCivil War era music provided by the Second Maryland Fifes and Drums.  \n\n\n\nSocial Hour begins: 6:00pm \n\n\n\nDinner 6:45pm \n\n\n\nIntroduction and meeting 7:30pm CVBT  \n\n\n\nPresident Tom Van Winkle \n\n\n\nKeynote Speaker: Dr. Ken Noe 8:00pm \n\n\n\n(Silent Auction/Raffle all evening) \n\n\n\nFew events in American history have been scrutinized as deeply as the Civil War. Battles\, generals\, political motives\, and the tragic toll have all been exhaustively chronicled. Yet\, a force as old as time itself—weather—has often hovered just at the margins of the epic story. In The Howling Storm: Weather\, Climate\, and the American Civil War\, historian Kenneth W. Noe masterfully re-centers the narrative\, revealing how weather and climate shaped military strategies\, civilian experiences\, agriculture\, morale\, and ultimately the war’s very outcome. \n\n\n\nSunday Morning Breakfast & Program – September 14 \,2025 \n\n\n\nStevenson Ridge\Doors open 8:30 am \n\n\n\nBreakfast Buffet Served 9:00 am \n\n\n\nIntroductions / Acknowledgements  \n\n\n\nPresident Tom Van Winkle \n\n\n\nMorning Keynote Speaker \n\n\n\nBrian Steel Wills \n\n\n\nWhen one recalls the American Civil War\, images of smoky battlefields\, marching armies\, and the thunder of cannon fire typically spring to mind. Yet\, beneath the glory and horror of combat lies a quieter\, grimmer narrative—one that historian Brian Steel Wills masterfully brings to light in his book\, Inglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War. In lectures\, interviews\, and presentations\, Wills provides a compelling\, deeply human account of the countless soldiers whose lives ended not in the fury of battle\, but in moments of misfortune\, illness\, or accident. His work reminds us that the true cost of war is far greater\, and far more tragic\, than casualty statistics might suggest. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWeekend Concludes \n\n\n\n\nRegistration \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPrograms\, Speakers & Tours\n\n\n\n\nChris Mackowski\, Ph.D.\, \n\n\n\nChris Mackowski\, Ph.D.\, is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War and the series editor of the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series\, published by Savas Beatie. Chris is a writing professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany\, NY\, where he also serves as associate dean for undergraduate programs. Chris is also historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge\, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield in central Virginia. He has worked as a historian for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park\, where he gives tours at four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg\, Chancellorsville\, Wilderness\, and Spotsylvania)\, as well as at the building where Stonewall Jackson died. \n\n\n\nChris has authored or co-authored nearly two dozen books and edited a half-dozen essay collections on the Civil War\, and his articles have appeared in all the major Civil War magazines. Chris serves on the board of directors for the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and on the advisory board of the Civil War Roundtable Congress and the Brunswick (NC) Civil  \n\n\n\nWar Roundtable—the largest in the country. He is also a member of the Antietam Institute and the U. S. Grant Homestead Association. In 2023\, he was honored with the Houston Civil War Round Table’s Frank Vandiver Award and also selected as the Copie Hill Fellow at the American Battlefield Trust. \n\n\n\nFriday – 1/2 Day Tour – Massaponax Church/Armies March to North Anna \n\n\n\nMassaponax Church\, a simple brick building in the Classical Revial style\, was completed in 1859. It was the second church for a congregation founded in 1788. The area around the church changed hands several times during the Civil War\, and the building was used by both Union and Confederate armies as a headquarters\, as well as a stable and a hospital. General Grant stopped at the church on May 21\, 1864\, an event captured in a series of photographs by Timothy O’Sullivan. Two photographs show the church and its yard; the other three\, taken from the windows of church balcony\, show Grant and his officers meeting in the courtyard\, on pews dragged outside from the church. Chris will also discuss the movement of the armies as they marched toward the North Anna. \n\n\n\nGraffiti uncovered in the balcony during renovations in 1938 is preserved under plexiglass. An unusual amount of this graffiti is writing\, rather than signatures\, and includes at least one exchange between Union and Confederate writers. \n\n\n\nSaturday full Day Program Subject \n\n\n\n​Tour – Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – Including Todd’s Tavern\, Spindle Field\, Upton’s Assault\, Lee’s Last Line\, and CVBT-preserved Harris Farm\, among others. \n\n\n\n\n\nKenneth Noe is a native of Virginia\, born in Richmond to a graduate of Mary Washington\, and is himself a graduate of Emory and Henry College. He earned master’s degrees in history at both Virginia Tech and the University of Kentucky\, and he received his doctorate from the University of Illinois. After teaching at the University of West Georgia for ten years\, Dr. Noe taught at Auburn University from 2000 to 2021 before retiring. \n\n\n\n​Dr. Noe has received numerous teaching awards. He is the author of eight books\, including The Howling Storm: Weather\, Climate\, and the American Civil War\, published by LSU Press in 2020\, a finalist for the Lincoln Prize and the co winner of the Col. Richard W. Ulbrich memorial Book Award. Twice a Pulitzer Prize entrant\, Dr. Noe received the 2002 Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War History for Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle\, and the 1997 Tennessee History Book Award for A Southern Boy in Blue: The Memoirs of Marcus Woodcock\, 9th Kentucky Infantry\, U.S. His next book\, a spin-off of The Howling Storm entitled Abraham Lincoln and the Heroic Legend\, will appear early in 2026 from LSU Press. \n\n\n\nProgram Subject \n\n\n\nTraditional histories of the Civil War describe the conflict as a war between North and South. Kenneth W. Noe suggests it should instead be understood as a war between the North\, the South\, and the weather. Noe will retell the history of the conflict with a focus on the ways in which weather and climate shaped the outcomes of battles and campaigns\, with special attention given to the battlefields that the CVBT helps preserve. Climate conditions during the war proved unusual\, as irregular phenomena such as El Niño\, La Niña\, and similar oscillations in the Atlantic Ocean disrupted weather patterns across southern states. He further contends that events such as floods and droughts affecting the Confederate home front constricted soldiers’ food supply (especially in Virginia)\, lowered morale\, and undercut the Confederate government’s efforts to boost nationalist sentiment. Taking into account these meteorological events\, Noe rethinks conventional explanations of battlefield victories and losses\, compelling historians to reconsider long-held conclusions about the war. \n\n\n\n\n\nBrian Steel Wills is the retired Director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and Professor Emeritus of History at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw\, Ga. Dr. Wills has been a member of the Georgia Civil War Commission and past President of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table. His latest publication\, Running the Race: The “Public Face” of Charlton Heston\, was published by Savas-Beatie in 2022. \n\n\n\nHe is also the author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War. Inglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War (Kansas\, 2017) and George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel (Kansas\, 2012)\, each received the Richard Barksdale Harwell Award winner as the best book on a Civil War topic for that year presented by the Atlanta Civil War Round Table. \n\n\n\nHis biography of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest\, A Battle From the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest (Harper Collins) is currently in reprint as The Confederacy’s Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest (Kansas). This work was chosen as both a History Book Club selection and a Book of the Month Club selection. \n\n\n\nHis other titles include The River was Dyed with Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow (Oklahoma\, 2014); Confederate General William Dorsey Pender: The Hope of Glory (Louisiana State University\, 2013); Gone with the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema (Rowman and Littlefield\, 2006); The War Hits Home: The Civil War in Southeastern Virginia\, (Virginia\, 2001) and an updated edition of the James I. “Bud” Robertson\, Jr.\, Civil War Sites in Virginia (Virginia\, 2011). \n\n\n\nIn 2000\, Dr. Wills received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia\, one of eleven recipients from all faculty members at public and private institutions across the state. He has also received the Charles L. Dufour Award from the Civil War Round Table of New Orleans in 2013 and the recipient of the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit in 2020 by the Houston Civil War Round Table. \n\n\n\nProgram Subject \n\n\n\nInglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the Civil War \n\n\n\nEvery conflict has a cost to the soldiers engaged in them. Casualties of all kinds have occurred amidst the broad spectrum of battle. Yet\, as terrible as these were for those who suffered them or for their loved ones\, fatalities associated with noncombat instances were just as harrowing. Thus\, it was during the American Civil War that the toll of war exacted on soldiers and civilians included the diverse elements that ranged from disease and weather to accidents and human failures. Train wrecks\, boiler explosions\, and industrial accidents were among the most likely culprits to grab headlines\, but the routine business of riding\, marching\, fatigue duty\, and camp life could spell disaster. Even the innocent activities of bathing could end in catastrophic results. Fights or quarrels among comrades could escalate and turn deadly. Foolish disregard for safety\, the heinous acts of murder\, the dismal finality of suicide\, or the incompetence of those instructed with the health of the men in uniform\, all added to the grim tally of war. Survivors understood the terrible price of these sacrifices and lamented the losses that came from such inglorious passages from life to the hereafter. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration
URL:https://cvbt.org/event/cvbt-2025-annual-conference/
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