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William C. “Jack” Davis Speaker for Monday, November 9th, 2026

 

Popular and Award-Winning Civil War Historian William C. “Jack” Davis Announces November 2026 Speaking Tour in Three Kentucky Cities

William C. “Jack” Davis will speak at 3 Civil War history events across Kentucky in early November 2026.  This will mark what our records indicate is his 12th Appearance to the Kentucky CWRT, dating back to his first appearance in January of 1978 (see list below.)

He will speak to us on “The Making Of The Confederate Government,” which will be the third and final event of this trip to Kentucky.

He will speak on “The Orphan Brigade” on Saturday and Sunday in Louisville and Richmond – see details below.  He spoke to our March 1982 meeting on that topic, and even you were present for that one, you may want to take this opportunity to carpool with one or more friends to Louisville or Richmond to hear him speak on “The Kentucky Confederates Who Couldn’t Go Home!”

Davis is one of America’s most respected historians and has created a legacy of scholarship and narrative focused primarily on the American Civil War.

Davis is a retired professor of history from Virginia Tech and former executive director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. He is the only four-time winner of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Prize for Confederate History. The speaking tour will focus on the complex human dynamics and leadership crises of the era, presenting insights from his lifetime of research.

Acclaimed Television and Media Contributions

Attendees will recognize Davis from his decades of prominent television and documentary work. His media contributions include:

  • Civil War Journal – Served as the senior on-camera consultant and commentator for the highly rated 52-episode History Channel and A&E series.
  • C-SPAN Networks – Featured in numerous lectures and academic panels detailing different aspects of the Civil War (currently part of 19 different recordings available on the C-SPAN site.)
  • Film Consultations – Worked extensively on historical accuracy and screenplays alongside director Ron Maxwell (Gettysburg and Gods and Generals).

Events

Each engagement will include his formal presentation and an interactive audience Q&A session, and he will be available to sign his books – feel free to bring your favorites for him to sign, as quantities to purchase will be limited.

Event 1:  Topic-The Orphan Brigade, at the monthly meeting of the Louisville Civil War Round Table at 6 pm on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Big Spring Country Club.  

Dinner tickets are $40 and must be paid in advance by Monday, November 2 here:  www.LouisvilleCWRT.com/meetings

Event 2:  Topic-The Orphan Brigade, at the 25th Anniversary of Battlefield Preservation Celebration and Annual Meeting, hosted by the Battle of Richmond Association in Richmond at 5 pm on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at the Lake Buck Lodge on the Blue Grass Army Depot (located on the Richmond Battlefield at 431 Battlefield Memorial Highway, Richmond, KY, 40475 – Take Exit 83 off I-75 (the Buc-ee’s exit) and follow signs to Blue Grass Army Depot (Do not enter BGAD Main Gate! Drive approximately 0.8 mile south on Highway 421 past the Main Gate (towards entrance to Battlefield Park, where Reenactment occurs) and look for entrance on left marked by historical flags and signs.)

Tickets are $25 per person (sponsorships still available) and must be purchased in advance by Monday, November 2 by contacting battleofrichmond1862@yahoo.com or online here:

https://checkout.square.site/merchant/SF6Z3PXZN4N2F/checkout/6BCNFUXEJ7RLQKH7ISJNCGZH

For more information on any of the three events, call George Ridings at (859) 661-3289.

William C. Davis:  Kentucky Civil War Round Table Presentations, from KYCWRT Website

  • November 2026 – “The Making of the Confederate Government”
  • November 2023 – “John Breckinridge and the Flight of the Confederate Government, the Fall of Richmond, His Escape and His Exile: Preparing A Screenplay”
  • September 2020 – Virtual meeting – “The letters of General Gabriel Wharton and his wife, Nanny Radford”
  • September 2018 – William C. “Jack” Davis – “Loreta Velasquez, the Con Artist and Confederate Impersonator”
  • May 2012 – William “Jack” Davis – The Monstrous Regiment of Women
  • May 2008 – Jack Davis “Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief: How he Managed his Generals and his Military Establishment During the Civil War”
  • March 2004 – William C. “Jack” Davis “What Soldiers Ate”
  • September 2001 – William C. Davis, “The Last Days of the Confederate Government”
  • May 1994 – William C. Davis, “Jefferson Davis as War Leader”
  • May 1984 – William C. Davis, “The Civil War Through the Eyes of the Camera”
  • March 1982 – William C. Davis, “The Orphan Brigade”
  • January 1978 – William C. Davis, “The Lincoln Conspiracy”

UPCOMING SPEAKERS 2026-2027 SEASON

September 21, 2026

Thomas Jessee & Dr. Curt Fields

“Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours”

November 9, 2026

William C. “Jack” Davis

“Making of the Confederate Government”

March 15, 2027

Dr. Thomas Mackey

“Opposing Lincoln: Clement L. Vallandigham, Presidential Power, and the Legal Battle over Dissent in Wartime”

April 19, 2027

James M. Prichard

“Morgan’s Last Kentucky Raid”

May 10, 2027

TBA

June 7, 2027

Anne E. Marshall

“Cassius Marcellus Clay: The Life of an Antislavery Slaveholder and the Paradox of American Reform”

PAST SPEAKERS 1954-PRESENT

2010-Present
2018-2019
  • September 2018 – William C. “Jack” Davis – “Loreta Velasquez, the Con Artist and Confederate Impersonator”
  • November 2018 – Kent M. Brown – “George Gordon Meade and the Gettysburg Campaign”
  • January 2019 – A. Wilson Green – “A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg”
  • March 2019 – Brian Steel Wills – “Inglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War”
  • May 2019 – Wayne E. Motts – “Fighting The Civil War: Historical Treasures Of The Conflict In The Collection Of The National Civil War Museum”
2017-2018
  • September 2017 – Alan Pell Crawford – “Mark Twain and the Civil War”
  • November 2017 – Bud Robertson – “When Did The South Really Lose The Civil War?”
  • January 22, 2018 – Ryan Wolford Blair – “Wild Wolf – The Great Civil War Rivalry”
  • March 19, 2018 – Peter Carmichael (Gettysburg College) – “I am almost sick all the time and half crazy:” The Fate of a Confederate Deserter After Gettysburg
  • May 21, 2018 – Vince Dooley – “Col. William Deloney: The Legion’s Fighting Bulldog”
2016-2017
  • September 2016 — John Stempel — General George H. Thomas, “The Rock of Chickamauga”
  • November 2016 — James I. “Bud” Robertson – “Robert E. Lee and the Quest for Peace”
  • January 2017 — John Hoptak – “The 48 th Pennsylvania Infantry and the Digging of the Petersburg Mine”
  • March 2017 — Barton Myers – “On Irregular Fields of Battle: The American Civil War’s Guerilla Wars”
  • May 2017 — Dr. Jennifer Murray – “Alabamians at Gettysburg”
2015-2016
  • September 2015 – Sue Boardman — “The Gettysburg Cyclorama: A History and Guide”
  • November 2015 — James I. “Bud” Robertson
  • January 2016 — Terrance (Terry) Winschel — “Shut Up As In A Trap: Citizens Under Siege”
  • March 2016 — Brian McKnight — “Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia”
  • May 2016 — Garry Aldeman —  “A Civil War Photography Extravaganza”
2014-2015
  • September 2014 –John Barr — “Loathing Lincoln”
  • November 2014 — James I. “Bud” Robertson — “Water: The Unknown Factor in the Civil War
  • January 2015 — Brig. Gen. Charles F. “Casey” Brower, IV (retired) — “Sophisticated Strategists: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defeat of Japan”
  • March 2015 — Brig. Gen. Jack Mountcastle (retired) — “Desperate Days–the Battles Around Petersburg, 1864-65”
  • May 2015 — Hon. Frank Williams, retired Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court — “Judging Lincoln as a Judge”
2013-2014
  • September 2013 – Kent Masterson Brown Movie Premier – “The Southern Cross: The Story of First Confederate Battle Flag”
  • November 2013 – James “Bud” Robertson – “What America Has Forgotten: 1846 – 1861”
  • January 2014 – Luke Harlow – “Religion, Civil War Emancipation, and the Making of Confederate Kentucky”
  • March 2014 – Gary Matthews – “Thomas Hines”
  • May 2014 — Stephen M. “Sam” Hood — “The Lost Papers of General John Bell Hood”
2012-2013
  • September 2012 – David Blight
  • November 2012 – James “Bud” Robertson
  • March 2013 – Kenneth Noe – “Reluctant Rebels Who Joined the Army After 1861”
  • May 2013 – Brian Steel Wills  – “General George Henry Thomas”
2011-2012
  • September 2011 – R. Owen Williams, Ph.D. – The Constitutional Consequences of the Civil War.
  • November 2011 – James I. “Bud” Robertson – The Untold Civil War: Exploring The Human side of War.
  • January 2012 – Charles Bracelen Flood – Grant’s Final Victory.
  • March 2012 – Kent M. Brown – Secession: The Constitutional Remedy That Brought About The Civil War.
  • May 2012 – William “Jack” Davis – The Monstrous Regiment of Women.
2010-2011
  • September 2010 – Kent M. Brown – The Civil War: Kentucky’s Mercurial Political Course.
  • November 2010 – James I. “Bud” Robertson – The Centennial and the Sesquicentennial: Are They Compatible?
  • January 2011 – Allen R. Millet – Understanding Civil Wars: The American and Korean Experiences as Comparative History, 1850-1877 and 1945-1954.
  • March 2011 – Peter Cozzens – Cahaba: The Forgotten Prison.
  • May 2011 Anne E. Marshall – Censoring History: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Campaign Against Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

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