Speakers – Kentucky Civil War Roundtable

Thomas Jessee & Dr. Curt Fields Speakers for September 21st, 2026 Meeting

Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours

Join us in September for this acclaimed and popular program featuring renowned Living Historians Dr. Curt Fields and Thomas Jessee.

As long-time portrayers of Generals Grant and Lee, they have presented nationwide separately and together for many years, and they participated in the official 150th and 160th Anniversary ceremonies at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. They also appear daily in the Park’s official visitor center film.

Bring one or more guests! You won’t want to miss this excellent and insightful presentation!

Thomas Jessee

Thomas Lee Jessee, a native Virginian and a transplanted Floridian, has been a dedicated reenactor since 1969. He has served for many years as the Commanding General of the Confederate Forces for the annual reenactment of the Battle of Olustee, Florida. Thomas is also an active member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. As a longtime student of General Lee, Thomas has portrayed General Lee in various venues throughout the US over the years.

Dr. Curt Fields

Dr. Fields lives in Collierville, Tennessee, and he has cultivated the persona of General Grant to the extent that he is now considered the preeminent living historian portraying Grant, and has recreated the commanding general of the Union Army in films, posters, and re-enactments. Dr. Fields has a bachelor and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. He later earned a second Master’s Degree in Secondary Education and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Curriculum from Michigan State University, among his other academic achievements.

Dr. Fields, the same height and body style as General Grant, represents a true-to-life image of the man as he would have looked. He researches extensively in order to share an accurate portrayal. His presentations are in first person, quoting from General Grant’s memoirs, articles, and letters, statements he made in interviews, and first-person accounts of people who knew the General or were with him and witnessed him during events.

Links:

The Appomattox NPS Park Visitor’s Center Film: https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/with-malice-towards-none-park-film.htm
C-SPAN: Recording of the April 9, 2015 Program at Appomattox NPS commemorating the 150^th Anniversary of the Surrender Meeting: https://www.c-span.org/program/american-history-tv/surrender-at-appomattox-150th-anniversary/395728
Open Phones program with Fields and Jessee, from April 12, 2015, 150^th Anniversary of the Stacking of Arms Ceremony: https://www.c-span.org/program/american-history-tv/open-phones-with-generals-grant-and-lee-portrayers/395727
Curt Fields’ KYCWRT Program from November 2024, later shown on C-SPAN: https://www.c-span.org/program/the-civil-war/general-grant-at-the-1862-capture-of-fort-donelson/652535

Other:

NPS Appomattox Surrender Documents/Letters signed by Grant and Lee: https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/historyculture/surrender-documents.htm
NPS Account of the McLean House meeting: https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/historyculture/the-surrender-meeting.htm
Grant’s Account, from his Memoirs: https://minnstate.pressbooks.pub/ushistory1/chapter/surrender-of-lee-1865/
Grant’s aide Ely Parker’s copy of surrender letter and additional information: https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/we-are-all-americans-grant-lee-and-ely-parker-at-appomattox-court-house-2
NYT Article referencing Lee’s aide Marshall giving a talk on Appomattox: https://leefamilyarchive.org/history-reference-misc-nyt-1894-01-20/
Link to transcript of April 7-9 correspondence, and Lee’s aide Marshall’s written account: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/correspondence-between-ulysses-s-grant-and-robert-e-lee.87535/#google_vignette

Transcript of the Correspondence of April 7-9, 1865 (from CivilWarTalk.com post referenced above):

Correspondence Between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee Discussing Surrender Terms at Appomattox

These reports were extracted from a Report of Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, U. S. Army, commanding Armies of the United States, The Richmond (Virginia) Campaign.

APRIL 7, 1865
General R. E. LEE:
GENERAL: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the C. S. Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

– U.S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

APRIL 7, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
GENERAL: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender.

– R. E. LEE, General

APRIL 8, 1865
General R. E. LEE:
GENERAL: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, asking the condition on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say that, peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to yell, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.

– U.S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

APRIL 8, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
GENERAL: I received at a late hour your note of to-day. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army, but as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia, but as far as your proposal may affect the C. S. forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 a.m., to-morrow; on the old stage road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two armies.

– R. E. LEE, General

APRIL 9, 1865
General R. E. LEE:
GENERAL: Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace; the meeting proposed for 10 a.m. to-day could lead to no good. I will state, however, general, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertains the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be set-tied without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, &c.,

– U.S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

APRIL 9, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
GENERAL: I received your note of this morning on the picket-line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army. I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.

– R. E. LEE, General

APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, VA.

April 9, 1865
General R. E. LEE:
GENERAL: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by U. S. authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.

– U.S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

April 9, 1865
Lieut. Gen. U. S. GRANT:
GENERAL: I have received your letter of this date containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

– R. E. LEE, General

Source: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion

UPCOMING SPEAKERS 2026-2027 SEASON

Thomas Jessee & Dr. Curt Fields

September 21, 2026

TBA

November, 2026

TBA

March, 2027

TBA

April, 2027

TBA

May, 2027

TBA

June, 2027

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.

2009-2010

September – Charles B. Flood “1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History”
November – Bud Robertson “Forgotten Elements of the Civil War”
January – John Stempel “George H. Thomas: Unsung Political-Military Star”
March – Charles Roland “A Slave Owner Looks at Slavery”
May – Jason Phillips “Understanding Diehard Rebels”

2008-2009

September – Jack Hurst “Grant, Forrest and Fort Donelson: The Unlikely Birthplace of Two Military Giants”
November – Bud Robertson “The Old Dominion; Battleground for a Nation”
January – Richard Taylor “Marcellus Jerome Clark—Sue Mundy”
March – Joseph Glathaar “General Lee’s Army: From Victory to Defeat”
May – Jerry Thompson “The Civil War and the Rio Grande Frontier”

2007-2008

September – – Edward M. Coffman “The American Military Experience in World War I”
November – James Klotter “The Breckinridges of Kentucky and the Brothers’ War”
January – Mark Wetherington “James W. Jackson, the first Martyr of the Confederacy”
March – Betty Gorin “The Battle of Tebbs Bend at Green River, July 4, 1863”
May – Jack Davis “Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief: How he Managed his Generals and his Military Establishment During the Civil War”

2006-2007

September – Gary Gallagher “A Great Civil War Watershed: The Seven Days Battles in Perspective.”
November – Bud Robertson “Virginia Prepares for War, April-July, 1861”
January – Gary Matthews “Basil Wilson Duke, CSA: The Right Man in the Right Place”
March – Kent Masterson Brown “Lee’s Retreat From Gettysburg”
May – Gregory J.W. Urwin “The Rise of George Armstrong Custer, 1861-1865”

2005-2006

September – John J. Rodrigue “Personalities and Politics in the Civil War Era: The Grant-Warmouth Dispute.”
November – Brian Steel Wills “The Life and Career of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest”
January – Steven Jay White “The Kentucky Shakers and the Civil War.”
March – Musical Performance by the Cumberlands
May – Charles Bracelen Flood “Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War”

2004-2005

September – Peter Sehlinger “General William Preston of Kentucky, Diplomat and Soldier of Lost Causes.”
November – Bud Robertson “Lee and Jackson: Model Partnership.”
January – James Ramage “Ulysses S. Grant: The Rise and Fall of His Public Reputation.”
March – Charles F. Bryan, Jr. “Civil War Artist Robert K. Sneden”
May – Craig L. Symonds “Lincoln and his Admirals.”

2003-2004

September – Kenneth A. Hafendorfer “Wildcat.”
November – Bud Robertson “Stonewall Jackson and His Myths: A Losing Battle.”
January – Civil War Era Dance Performance by the Swan Salon Dancers
March – William C. “Jack” Davis “What Soldiers Ate.”
May – John David Smith “Black Confederates”

2002-2003

September – Charles P. Roland, “Johnny Reb, Billy Yank, and G.I. Charlie: An Analogy From Two Wars.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Why Men Enlisted in the Civil War.”
January – Kevin Graffagnino, “Rebels in Vermont” The St. Alban’s Raid.”
March – Nelson D. Lankford, “Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital.”
May – Robert K. Krick, “Stonewall Jackson’s Books.”

2001-2002

September – William C. Davis, “The Last Days of the Confederate Government.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The First Terrorist: John Brown.”
January – Michael C.C. Adams, “When the Man Knows Death: The Civil War Poetry of Nathaniel Southgate Shaler.”
March – John C. Inscoe, “Fugitives, Bushwackers, and Unionists in Southern Appalachia’s Inner Civil war.”
May – “Craig Symonds, “Pat Cleburne and Command Leadership.”

2000-2001

September – Edwin H. Simmons, “The Korean War.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “A Man Called Lincoln.”
January – Marion B. Lucas, “The Burning of Columbia.”
March – Russell Weigley, “Gettysburg as a Mirror of the Armies.”
May – Charles P. Roland, “General Albert Sidney Johnston.”

1999-2000

September – Gary Gallagher, “The Image of Robert E. Lee.”
November – James I.”Bud” Robertson Jr., “Why the Civil War Still Lives.”
January – Joseph Glatthaar, “Black Soldiers in The Union Army.”
March – Carol Reardon, “Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory.”
May – James A. Ramage, “The Gray Ghost–Mosby.”

1998-1999

September – John A. Gable, “Theodore Roosevelt’s Crowded Hours’”
November – James I.”Bud” Robertson Jr., “Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks–Uncommon Soldiers.”
January – Saxton’s Cornet Band, “More Civil War Music.”
March – John H. “Jack” DeBerry, “Kentuckians at ShIloh.”
May – Stephen L. Ritchie, “Confederate General Turner Asby.”

1997-1998

September – Gary Gallagher, “Guerrilla Warfare and the Confederacy.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “New Viewpoints on Stonewall Jackson.”
January – Warren Lambert, “The Battle of Richmond, Kentucky.”
March – Thomas A. Desjardin, “Joseph Chamberlain and the 20th Maine.”
May – Douglas L. Wilson, “Lincoln and the Kentucky Connection.”

1996-1997

September – Kenneth W. Noe, “Southern Boys in Blue: The Federal 9th Kentucky.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Women in the Civil war.”
January – Edward “Mac” Coffman, “The Most Dangerous Man Alive: Thomas Henry Hines.”
March – John M. Coski, “Putting Out Forrest Fires: The Adventures of the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry.”
May – George C. Herring Jr., “The Civil War as International History.”

1995-1996

September – Charles F. Bryan Jr., “Virginians in Blue.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Love Life in the Civil war.”
January – Steven E. Woodworth, “Chickamauga: Decision Point of an Indecision Campaign.”
March – Cullom Davis, “In Search of the Missing Lincoln.”
May – Gary Gallagher, “Stonewall Jackson.”

1994-1995

September – Gary Gallagher, “Two Shenandoah Valley Campaigns: Jackson’s and Early’s”
November – James I.”Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Civil War: Recreation, Refreshment, and Renewal.”
January – Kent Masterson Brown, “Perryville: Past and Present.”
March – James A. Ramage, “Rebel Raider and Gray Ghost: A Comparison of John Hunt Morgan and John S. Mosby.”
May – Charles F. Browder IV, “V-E Day, ,1945.”

1993-1994

September – Charles P. Roland, “The Generalship of Robert E. Lee.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson, “Civil War Prisons Reconsidered.”
January – Cancelled due to snow
March – Herman Hattaway, “Teaching the Civil War at West Point.”
May – William C. Davis, “Jefferson Davis as War Leader.”

1992-1993

September – Gary Gallagher, “John Bankhead Magruder and the Seven days.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Stonewall Jackson and his Biographers.”
January – Stephen D. Engle, “Don Carlos Buell and the Kentucky Campaign of 1862”
March – James C. Klotter, “Jefferson Davis: Beginnings and Endings of a Life.”
May – Joseph T. Glatthaar, “The Grant-Sherman Relationship.”

1991-1992

September – Richard McMurry, “The Gettysburg Decision.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Living Hell of Civil War Medicine.”
January – Nicky Hughes, “Fort Boone and the Civil War Defense of Frankfort.”
March – Frank A. O’Reilly, “This Feast of Death.”
May – Charles P. Roland, “Dwight David Eisenhower.”

1990-1991

September – Kenneth Hafendorfer, “Henry Clay King.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Lee at Appomattox.”
January – Thomas D. Clark, “From Cumberland Ford to the Wildcat: The Fight to Claim Kentucky.”
March – Lowell H. Harrison, “General John B. Gordon.”
May – Michael Parrish, “Richard Taylor: Soldier Prince of Dixie.”

1989-1990

September – Lowell Reidenbaugh, “Jackson’s Valley Campaign.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Robert E. Lee: Southerner and American.”
January – James A. Ramage, “John Hunt Morgan’s Raid in Indiana.”
March – Saxton’s Cornet Band, “Civil War Music.”
May – Gary Gallagher, “Jubal A. Early and the Myth of the Lost Cause.”

1988-1990

September – Robert H. Barrow, “Military Leadership: Reflections of a Marine.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Faith in War: Religion in Civil War Armies.”
January – William G. Piston, “James Longstreet: A Career in Controversy.”
March – Gary Gallagher, “The Unpublished Porter Alexander.”
May – John Y. Simon, “Grant as a Military Commander.”

1987-1988

September – Nat C. Hughes, “Confederate General William Hardee.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Stonewall Jackson: Cromwellian Confederate.”
January – Kent Masterson Brown, “Double Canister at Ten Yards.”
March – John G. Barrett, “VMI and the Civil War.”
May – Forrest C. Pogue, “George C. Marshall.”

1986-1987

September – Charles P. Roland, “A Citizen Soldier Remembers World War II.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Could the South Have Won the Civil War?”
January – Nicky Hughes, “Fighting for the Union: A View of Kentuckians in the Civil War.”
March – Larry J. Daniel, “Commoners in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee.”
May – Ralph M. Mitchell, “The Handling of the Wounded in the Civil War.”

1985-1986

September – Robert K. Krick, “The Amazing Career of General William Barksdale.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Soldiers Blue and Gray.”
January – Jay Luvaas, “The Battle Behind the Signs.”
March – Lowell H. Harrison, “Seven Days in the Life of Stonewall Jackson.”
May – David Lee, “Sergeant Alvin C. York.”

1984-1985

September – Herman N. Hattaway, “How the North Won.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “General A. P. Hill: A Killing Gentleman.”
January – Michael C.C. Adams, “Our Masters the Rebels.”
March – James A. Ramage, “The Death of John Hunt Morgan.”
May – Kenneth A. Hafendorfer, “The Campaign for Kentucky.”

1983-1984

September – Richard J. Sommers, “Grant and Lee at Petersburg.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Legacies of the Civil War.”
January – James Lee McDonough, “Stones River.”
March – Dee Alexander Brown, “Galvanized Yankees.”
May – William C. Davis, “The Civil War Through the Eyes of the Camera.”

1982-1983

September – Benjamin Franklin Cooling, “The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaigns.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “A Man Called Lincoln.”
January – Grady McWhiney, “Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics.”
March – Richard M. McMurry, “John Bell Hood Becomes a Confederate General.”
May – Charles Bracelen Flood, “Lee–The Last Years.”

1981-1982

September – Lowell H. Harrison, “The Cruise of the C.S.S. Shenandoah.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The 1862 Valley Campaign.”
January – Kent Masterson Brown, “The Life of Johnny Reb–An Intimate View.”
March – William C. Davis, “The Orphan Brigade.”
May – Charles P. Roland, “Confederate Military Strategy and Leadership.”

1980-1981

September – Bill C. Malone, “Civil War Music.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Reminders of the War in Virginia.”
January – Thomas D. Clark, “The Trial of Jefferson Davis–Fact and Fancy.”
March – Philip P. Ardery, “Reminiscences of a Bomber Pilot.”
May – John G. Barrett, “Glory to Disrepute: Sherman in the Carolinas.”

1978-1979

September – Mark E. Neely Jr., “Fifty Years in the Lincoln Business.”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr.,”Generals of the Confederacy.”
January – Harry Caudill, “The Civil War in Eastern Kentucky.”
March – John K. Lattimer, “The Lincoln and Kennedy Assassinations Revisited.”
May – Van Deren Coke, “Photography in the Civil war.”

1977-1978

September – Bell Wiley, “Reminiscences of a Civil War Historian”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Virginia’s Contribution to the Confederacy”
January – William C. Davis, “The Lincoln Conspiracy”
March – Lowell H. Harrison, “Basil Duke, CSA”
May – Frank Vandiver, “John J. Pershing and the American Military Tradition”

1976-1977

September – James O. Breeden, “Rebel Medicine”
November – James I “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Can the Civil War Survive the Bicentennial?”
January – John G. Barrett, “Born A Yankee, Died a Rebel”
March – Grady McWhiney, “Bragg’s Kentucky Campaign”
May – Harry W. Pfanz, “Highlights of the Gettysburg Campaign”

1975-1976

September – John S. Pancake, “The Civil War: A Revolution That Failed”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Johnny Rebs and the Fairer Sex”
January – Robert K. Krick, “The Battle of Chancellorsville”
March – Lowell H. Harrison, “The Civil War in Kentucky: Some Persistent Questions”
May – Andrew Nelson, “Nathan Bedford Forrest”

1973-1974

September – E. B. “Pete” Long, “War on the Ocean’s Edge”
November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Confederate Chaplains: Holy Men or Hypocrites?”
January – Richard M. McMurry, “The Early Military Career of John Bell Hood”
March – Forrest C. Pogue, “General George C. Marshall’s Kentucky and Virginia Heritage”
May – Hugh F. Rankin, “Yankee Doodle: Soldier of the Revolution”

1972-1973

September – Robert G. Gunderson, “Half-Horse, Half-Alligator: The Humor of Davy Crockett”
November – John K. Lattimer, “Lincoln, Johnson, Seward, and the 1865 Conspirators”
January – Vincent P. DeSantis, “The Civil War: A View from the North”
March – Robert H. Reid, “The Closing Scene at Appomattox: Profiles in Character”
May – Bell Wiley, “Women of the Lost Cause”

1971-1972

September – Charles P. Roland, “The Generalship of Albert Sidney Johnston”
November – E. B. “Pete” Long, “The Last Six Months of the Armies in Virginia”
January – Frank L. Klement, “Sound and Fury: Dissent and Dissenters of Civil War Days”
March – Grady McWhiney, “Sex, Women, and the ‘Old Army’ Officers”
May – J. Lawton Collins, “The Breakout from the Normandy Bridgehead”

1970-1971

September – Edwin C. Bearss, “The Attacks on Vicksburg”
November – Harold L. Peterson, “The Tale of the Minie Ball”
January – Stephen Z. Starr, “Col. George St. Leger Grenfell–Guilty or Innocent?”
March – James I “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Virginia Soldier in the Civil War”
May – Archer Jones, “Davis and His Generals: Civil War Strategy and its Background”

1969-1970

September – John K. Lattimer, “A Comparison of the Fatal Woundings of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy”
November – “Pat” Jones, “Teddy Roosevelt and His Rough Riders”
January – Glyndon G. Van Deusen, “Horace Greeley, the Hawkish Dove”
March – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Shenandoah Valley Campaign”
May – R. Gerald McMurtry, “Commodore John Lorimer Worden, Commander of the Monitor”

1968-1969

September – Thomas L. Connelly, “Command Failure in the West: The Army of Tennessee, 1861-62”
November – Philip D. Jordan, “Bayonet, Bowie-Knife, and Bloody Jack”
January – Glyndon G. Van Deusen, “William Henry Seward, The Man, and the Wartime Diplomat”
March – Thomas D. Clark, “Shakertown During the Civil War”
May – T. Harry Williams, “A Yank at Oxford”

1967-1968

September – Bell Wiley, “The Irish in the Civil War”
November – Richard Current, “A Union Soldier in the Post-War South–Henry Clay Warmouth”
January – A.D. Kirwan, “The Code Duello”
March – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Digger O’Dells of the 1860s: Executioners and Embalmers”
May – Richard Dyer Mudd, “The Escape of John Wilkes Booth”

1966-1967

September – R. Gerald McMurtry, “The Women in Lincoln’s Life”
November – Stephen Z. Starr, “The Other Pickett–Col. John T. Pickett”
January – E. B. “Pete” Long, “The War Beyond the River”
March – John S. Ezell, “A War Between Strangers”
May – Harry M. Caudill, “The Civil War in Eastern Kentucky”

1965-1966

September – Robert Womack, “Nathan Bedford Forrest”
November – Virgil Carrington Jones, “The C.S.S. Shenandoah”
January – Gerald Capers, “Occupied New Orleans”
March – Harold L. Peterson, “Great Guns of the Civil War”
May – Archer Jones, “Confederate Military Leadership”

1964-1965

September – Charles L. “Pie” Dufour, “Gentle Tiger—The Gallant Life of Roberdeau Wheat”
November – E. B. “Pete” Long, “Reappraisal of the Mississippi Valley Campaign”
January – Harold L. Peterson, “Weapons of the Civil War,” with a display of Civil War weapons by H. H. Thomas of Lexington.
March – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Forgotten Civil War”
May – LeRoy H. Fischer, “Adam Gurowski, Radical Extraordinary”

1963-1964

September – Robert W. Waitt Jr., “Sin During the Civil War”
November – Bell Wiley, “The Confederacy High Brass”
January – Holman Hamilton, “The American Presidency and the Civil War”
March – R. Gerald McMurtry, “The Assassination of Lincoln”
May – Allen P. Julian, “The Chickamauga Campaign”

1962-1963

September – Virgil Carrington Jones, “The Civil War at Sea”
November – Hamilton Hawkins Howze, “The Battle of Chancellorsville”
January – Raymond E. Myer, “Gen. Zollicoffer”
March – R. Gerald McMurtry, “Abraham Lincoln”
May – Edward M. Coffman, “The Civil War Career of Capt. Thomas B. Hines”

1961-1962

September – Grady McWhiney, “Factors for Victory (What the Confederacy Might Have Done)”
November – Roy Franklin Nichols, “The Brothers’ War”
January – A. D. Kirwan, “John J. Crittenden”
March – Rembert W. Patrick, “The Evacuation and Occupation of Richmond, Virginia”
May – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Last War Between Gentlemen”

1960-1961

September – Ed Pierce, “How the South Won the War”
November – Robert D. Meade, “Robert E. Lee”
January – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Army of Tennessee”
March – Richard B. Harwell, “Confederate Pi Box”
May – Bell Wiley, “The Men Who Wore the Blue”

1959-1960

September – George A. Dondero, “Abraham Lincoln”
November – Frederick Tilberg, “Command Decisions at Gettysburg”
January – H. H. Cunningham, “Medicine in the Confederacy, or Doctors in Gray”
March – Robert W. Johannsen, “The Eve of Conflict: Stephen A. Douglas and the Civil War”
May – John P. Dyer, “Confederate Calvary Action in the West”

1958-1959

September – Virgil Carrington Jones, “Eight Hours Before Richmond”
November – George L. Cashmore, “Shiloh”
January – Gilbert E. Govan, “A Confederate War Miscelany”
March – Gerald Capers, “The Fall and Occupation of Memphis and of New Orleans”
May – John C. Pemberton, “Gen. Pemberton and the Vicksburg Campaign”

1957-1958

September – R. Gerald McMurtry, “Confederate Gen. Ben Hardin Helm: Brother-in-Law of Abraham Lincoln”
November – Richard Nelson Current, “The Lincoln Nobody Knows”
January – Samuel Gurnsey Kelly, “The Red River Expedition”
March – William Best Hesseltine, “Andersonville”
May – Hudson Strode, “Discovering the Real Jefferson Davis: An Appraisal on His 150th Birthday”

1956-1957

September – Allen P. Julian, “The Atlanta Campaign”
November – Virgil Carrington Jones, “Grey Ghosts and Rebel Raiders”
January – A.D. Kirwan, “The Orphan Brigade”
March – George A. Dondero, “Mrs. Lincoln’s Influence on the President”
May – Bell I. Wiley, “Dear Folks: Home Letters of Johnny Reb and Billy Yank”

1955-1956

September – Charles P. Roland, “Albert Sidney Johnston, General of the Confederacy”
November – Allan Nevins, “The American s Fighter, 1861-1865: An Honest Estimate”
January – Frank Vandiver, “Stonewall Jackson’s Florida Campaign”
March – Alfred Leland Crabb, “The Twilight of the Nashville Gods”
May – Claude G. Bowers, “The Aftermath of the Civil War”

1954-1955

September – T. Harry Williams, “Life of Confederate General Pierre G.T. Beauregard”
November – Bruce Catton, “Phil Sheridan and the Battle of Five Forks”
January – Robert B. Browne, “Morgan’s Escape”
March – Clement Eaton, “Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Army”
May – Edgar DeWitte Jones. “The Gray Knight of the Confederacy”

1954

January – Robert Lee Kincaid, “Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed”
March – Robert S. Henry,“General Nathan Bedford Forrest”
May – Bell I. Wiley, “Life of the Common Soldier—Union and Confederate”

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.
2000-2010
2009-2010

September – Charles B. Flood “1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History”

November – Bud Robertson “Forgotten Elements of the Civil War”

January – John Stempel “George H. Thomas: Unsung Political-Military Star”

March – Charles Roland “A Slave Owner Looks at Slavery”

May – Jason Phillips “Understanding Diehard Rebels”

2008-2009

September – Jack Hurst “Grant, Forrest and Fort Donelson: The Unlikely Birthplace of Two Military Giants”

November – Bud Robertson “The Old Dominion; Battleground for a Nation”

January – Richard Taylor “Marcellus Jerome Clark—Sue Mundy”

March – Joseph Glathaar “General Lee’s Army: From Victory to Defeat”

May – Jerry Thompson “The Civil War and the Rio Grande Frontier”

2007-2008

September – – Edward M. Coffman “The American Military Experience in World War I”

November – James Klotter “The Breckinridges of Kentucky and the Brothers’ War”

January – Mark Wetherington “James W. Jackson, the first Martyr of the Confederacy”

March – Betty Gorin “The Battle of Tebbs Bend at Green River, July 4, 1863”

May – Jack Davis “Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief: How he Managed his Generals and his Military Establishment During the Civil War”

2006-2007

September – Gary Gallagher “A Great Civil War Watershed: The Seven Days Battles in Perspective.”

November – Bud Robertson “Virginia Prepares for War, April-July, 1861”

January – Gary Matthews “Basil Wilson Duke, CSA: The Right Man in the Right Place”

March – Kent Masterson Brown “Lee’s Retreat From Gettysburg”

May – Gregory J.W. Urwin “The Rise of George Armstrong Custer, 1861-1865”

2005-2006

September – John J. Rodrigue “Personalities and Politics in the Civil War Era: The Grant-Warmouth Dispute.”

November – Brian Steel Wills “The Life and Career of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest”

January – Steven Jay White “The Kentucky Shakers and the Civil War.”

March – Musical Performance by the Cumberlands

May – Charles Bracelen Flood “Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War”

2004-2005

September – Peter Sehlinger “General William Preston of Kentucky, Diplomat and Soldier of Lost Causes.”

November – Bud Robertson “Lee and Jackson: Model Partnership.”

January – James Ramage “Ulysses S. Grant: The Rise and Fall of His Public Reputation.”

March – Charles F. Bryan, Jr. “Civil War Artist Robert K. Sneden”

May – Craig L. Symonds “Lincoln and his Admirals.”

2003-2004

September – Kenneth A. Hafendorfer “Wildcat.”

November – Bud Robertson “Stonewall Jackson and His Myths: A Losing Battle.”

January – Civil War Era Dance Performance by the Swan Salon Dancers

March – William C. “Jack” Davis “What Soldiers Ate.”

May – John David Smith “Black Confederates”

2002-2003

September – Charles P. Roland, “Johnny Reb, Billy Yank, and G.I. Charlie: An Analogy From Two Wars.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Why Men Enlisted in the Civil War.”

January – Kevin Graffagnino, “Rebels in Vermont” The St. Alban’s Raid.”

March – Nelson D. Lankford, “Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital.”

May – Robert K. Krick, “Stonewall Jackson’s Books.”

2001-2002

September – William C. Davis, “The Last Days of the Confederate Government.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The First Terrorist: John Brown.”

January – Michael C.C. Adams, “When the Man Knows Death: The Civil War Poetry of Nathaniel Southgate Shaler.”

March – John C. Inscoe, “Fugitives, Bushwackers, and Unionists in Southern Appalachia’s Inner Civil war.”

May – “Craig Symonds, “Pat Cleburne and Command Leadership.”

2000-2001

September – Edwin H. Simmons, “The Korean War.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “A Man Called Lincoln.”

January – Marion B. Lucas, “The Burning of Columbia.”

March – Russell Weigley, “Gettysburg as a Mirror of the Armies.”

May – Charles P. Roland, “General Albert Sidney Johnston.”
1990-2000
1999-2000

September – Gary Gallagher, “The Image of Robert E. Lee.”

November – James I.”Bud” Robertson Jr., “Why the Civil War Still Lives.”

January – Joseph Glatthaar, “Black Soldiers in The Union Army.”

March – Carol Reardon, “Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory.”

May – James A. Ramage, “The Gray Ghost–Mosby.”

1998-1999

September – John A. Gable, “Theodore Roosevelt’s Crowded Hours’”

November – James I.”Bud” Robertson Jr., “Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks–Uncommon Soldiers.”

January – Saxton’s Cornet Band, “More Civil War Music.”

March – John H. “Jack” DeBerry, “Kentuckians at ShIloh.”

May – Stephen L. Ritchie, “Confederate General Turner Asby.”

1997-1998

September – Gary Gallagher, “Guerrilla Warfare and the Confederacy.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “New Viewpoints on Stonewall Jackson.”

January – Warren Lambert, “The Battle of Richmond, Kentucky.”

March – Thomas A. Desjardin, “Joseph Chamberlain and the 20th Maine.”

May – Douglas L. Wilson, “Lincoln and the Kentucky Connection.”

1996-1997

September – Kenneth W. Noe, “Southern Boys in Blue: The Federal 9th Kentucky.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Women in the Civil war.”

January – Edward “Mac” Coffman, “The Most Dangerous Man Alive: Thomas Henry Hines.”

March – John M. Coski, “Putting Out Forrest Fires: The Adventures of the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry.”

May – George C. Herring Jr., “The Civil War as International History.”

1995-1996

September – Charles F. Bryan Jr., “Virginians in Blue.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Love Life in the Civil war.”

January – Steven E. Woodworth, “Chickamauga: Decision Point of an Indecision Campaign.”

March – Cullom Davis, “In Search of the Missing Lincoln.”

May – Gary Gallagher, “Stonewall Jackson.”

1994-1995

September – Gary Gallagher, “Two Shenandoah Valley Campaigns: Jackson’s and Early’s”

November – James I.”Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Civil War: Recreation, Refreshment, and Renewal.”

January – Kent Masterson Brown, “Perryville: Past and Present.”

March – James A. Ramage, “Rebel Raider and Gray Ghost: A Comparison of John Hunt Morgan and John S. Mosby.”

May – Charles F. Browder IV, “V-E Day, ,1945.”

1993-1994

September – Charles P. Roland, “The Generalship of Robert E. Lee.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson, “Civil War Prisons Reconsidered.”

January – Cancelled due to snow

March – Herman Hattaway, “Teaching the Civil War at West Point.”

May – William C. Davis, “Jefferson Davis as War Leader.”

1992-1993

September – Gary Gallagher, “John Bankhead Magruder and the Seven days.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Stonewall Jackson and his Biographers.”

January – Stephen D. Engle, “Don Carlos Buell and the Kentucky Campaign of 1862”

March – James C. Klotter, “Jefferson Davis: Beginnings and Endings of a Life.”

May – Joseph T. Glatthaar, “The Grant-Sherman Relationship.”

1991-1992

September – Richard McMurry, “The Gettysburg Decision.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Living Hell of Civil War Medicine.”

January – Nicky Hughes, “Fort Boone and the Civil War Defense of Frankfort.”

March – Frank A. O’Reilly, “This Feast of Death.”

May – Charles P. Roland, “Dwight David Eisenhower.”

1990-1991

September – Kenneth Hafendorfer, “Henry Clay King.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Lee at Appomattox.”

January – Thomas D. Clark, “From Cumberland Ford to the Wildcat: The Fight to Claim Kentucky.”

March – Lowell H. Harrison, “General John B. Gordon.”

May – Michael Parrish, “Richard Taylor: Soldier Prince of Dixie.”
1980-1990
1989-1990

September – Lowell Reidenbaugh, “Jackson’s Valley Campaign.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Robert E. Lee: Southerner and American.”

January – James A. Ramage, “John Hunt Morgan’s Raid in Indiana.”

March – Saxton’s Cornet Band, “Civil War Music.”

May – Gary Gallagher, “Jubal A. Early and the Myth of the Lost Cause.”

1988-1990

September – Robert H. Barrow, “Military Leadership: Reflections of a Marine.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Faith in War: Religion in Civil War Armies.”

January – William G. Piston, “James Longstreet: A Career in Controversy.”

March – Gary Gallagher, “The Unpublished Porter Alexander.”

May – John Y. Simon, “Grant as a Military Commander.”

1987-1988

September – Nat C. Hughes, “Confederate General William Hardee.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Stonewall Jackson: Cromwellian Confederate.”

January – Kent Masterson Brown, “Double Canister at Ten Yards.”

March – John G. Barrett, “VMI and the Civil War.”

May – Forrest C. Pogue, “George C. Marshall.”

1986-1987

September – Charles P. Roland, “A Citizen Soldier Remembers World War II.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Could the South Have Won the Civil War?”

January – Nicky Hughes, “Fighting for the Union: A View of Kentuckians in the Civil War.”

March – Larry J. Daniel, “Commoners in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee.”

May – Ralph M. Mitchell, “The Handling of the Wounded in the Civil War.”

1985-1986

September – Robert K. Krick, “The Amazing Career of General William Barksdale.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Soldiers Blue and Gray.”

January – Jay Luvaas, “The Battle Behind the Signs.”

March – Lowell H. Harrison, “Seven Days in the Life of Stonewall Jackson.”

May – David Lee, “Sergeant Alvin C. York.”

1984-1985

September – Herman N. Hattaway, “How the North Won.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “General A. P. Hill: A Killing Gentleman.”

January – Michael C.C. Adams, “Our Masters the Rebels.”

March – James A. Ramage, “The Death of John Hunt Morgan.”

May – Kenneth A. Hafendorfer, “The Campaign for Kentucky.”

1983-1984

September – Richard J. Sommers, “Grant and Lee at Petersburg.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Legacies of the Civil War.”

January – James Lee McDonough, “Stones River.”

March – Dee Alexander Brown, “Galvanized Yankees.”

May – William C. Davis, “The Civil War Through the Eyes of the Camera.”

1982-1983

September – Benjamin Franklin Cooling, “The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaigns.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “A Man Called Lincoln.”

January – Grady McWhiney, “Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics.”

March – Richard M. McMurry, “John Bell Hood Becomes a Confederate General.”

May – Charles Bracelen Flood, “Lee–The Last Years.”

1981-1982

September – Lowell H. Harrison, “The Cruise of the C.S.S. Shenandoah.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The 1862 Valley Campaign.”

January – Kent Masterson Brown, “The Life of Johnny Reb–An Intimate View.”

March – William C. Davis, “The Orphan Brigade.”

May – Charles P. Roland, “Confederate Military Strategy and Leadership.”

1980-1981

September – Bill C. Malone, “Civil War Music.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Reminders of the War in Virginia.”

January – Thomas D. Clark, “The Trial of Jefferson Davis–Fact and Fancy.”

March – Philip P. Ardery, “Reminiscences of a Bomber Pilot.”

May – John G. Barrett, “Glory to Disrepute: Sherman in the Carolinas.”
1970-1980
1978-1979

September – Mark E. Neely Jr., “Fifty Years in the Lincoln Business.”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr.,”Generals of the Confederacy.”

January – Harry Caudill, “The Civil War in Eastern Kentucky.”

March – John K. Lattimer, “The Lincoln and Kennedy Assassinations Revisited.”

May – Van Deren Coke, “Photography in the Civil war.”

1977-1978

September – Bell Wiley, “Reminiscences of a Civil War Historian”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Virginia’s Contribution to the Confederacy”

January – William C. Davis, “The Lincoln Conspiracy”

March – Lowell H. Harrison, “Basil Duke, CSA”

May – Frank Vandiver, “John J. Pershing and the American Military Tradition”

1976-1977

September – James O. Breeden, “Rebel Medicine”

November – James I “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Can the Civil War Survive the Bicentennial?”

January – John G. Barrett, “Born A Yankee, Died a Rebel”

March – Grady McWhiney, “Bragg’s Kentucky Campaign”

May – Harry W. Pfanz, “Highlights of the Gettysburg Campaign”

1975-1976

September – John S. Pancake, “The Civil War: A Revolution That Failed”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Johnny Rebs and the Fairer Sex”

January – Robert K. Krick, “The Battle of Chancellorsville”

March – Lowell H. Harrison, “The Civil War in Kentucky: Some Persistent Questions”

May – Andrew Nelson, “Nathan Bedford Forrest”

1973-1974

September – E. B. “Pete” Long, “War on the Ocean’s Edge”

November – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Confederate Chaplains: Holy Men or Hypocrites?”

January – Richard M. McMurry, “The Early Military Career of John Bell Hood”

March – Forrest C. Pogue, “General George C. Marshall’s Kentucky and Virginia Heritage”

May – Hugh F. Rankin, “Yankee Doodle: Soldier of the Revolution”

1972-1973

September – Robert G. Gunderson, “Half-Horse, Half-Alligator: The Humor of Davy Crockett”

November – John K. Lattimer, “Lincoln, Johnson, Seward, and the 1865 Conspirators”

January – Vincent P. DeSantis, “The Civil War: A View from the North”

March – Robert H. Reid, “The Closing Scene at Appomattox: Profiles in Character”

May – Bell Wiley, “Women of the Lost Cause”

1971-1972

September – Charles P. Roland, “The Generalship of Albert Sidney Johnston”

November – E. B. “Pete” Long, “The Last Six Months of the Armies in Virginia”

January – Frank L. Klement, “Sound and Fury: Dissent and Dissenters of Civil War Days”

March – Grady McWhiney, “Sex, Women, and the ‘Old Army’ Officers”

May – J. Lawton Collins, “The Breakout from the Normandy Bridgehead”

1970-1971

September – Edwin C. Bearss, “The Attacks on Vicksburg”

November – Harold L. Peterson, “The Tale of the Minie Ball”

January – Stephen Z. Starr, “Col. George St. Leger Grenfell–Guilty or Innocent?”

March – James I “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Virginia Soldier in the Civil War”

May – Archer Jones, “Davis and His Generals: Civil War Strategy and its Background”
1960-1970
1969-1970

September – John K. Lattimer, “A Comparison of the Fatal Woundings of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy”

November – “Pat” Jones, “Teddy Roosevelt and His Rough Riders”

January – Glyndon G. Van Deusen, “Horace Greeley, the Hawkish Dove”

March – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Shenandoah Valley Campaign”

May – R. Gerald McMurtry, “Commodore John Lorimer Worden, Commander of the Monitor”

1968-1969

September – Thomas L. Connelly, “Command Failure in the West: The Army of Tennessee, 1861-62”

November – Philip D. Jordan, “Bayonet, Bowie-Knife, and Bloody Jack”

January – Glyndon G. Van Deusen, “William Henry Seward, The Man, and the Wartime Diplomat”

March – Thomas D. Clark, “Shakertown During the Civil War”

May – T. Harry Williams, “A Yank at Oxford”

1967-1968

September – Bell Wiley, “The Irish in the Civil War”

November – Richard Current, “A Union Soldier in the Post-War South–Henry Clay Warmouth”

January – A.D. Kirwan, “The Code Duello”

March – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “Digger O’Dells of the 1860s: Executioners and Embalmers”

May – Richard Dyer Mudd, “The Escape of John Wilkes Booth”

1966-1967

September – R. Gerald McMurtry, “The Women in Lincoln’s Life”

November – Stephen Z. Starr, “The Other Pickett–Col. John T. Pickett”

January – E. B. “Pete” Long, “The War Beyond the River”

March – John S. Ezell, “A War Between Strangers”

May – Harry M. Caudill, “The Civil War in Eastern Kentucky”

1965-1966

September – Robert Womack, “Nathan Bedford Forrest”

November – Virgil Carrington Jones, “The C.S.S. Shenandoah”

January – Gerald Capers, “Occupied New Orleans”

March – Harold L. Peterson, “Great Guns of the Civil War”

May – Archer Jones, “Confederate Military Leadership”

1964-1965

September – Charles L. “Pie” Dufour, “Gentle Tiger—The Gallant Life of Roberdeau Wheat”

November – E. B. “Pete” Long, “Reappraisal of the Mississippi Valley Campaign”

January – Harold L. Peterson, “Weapons of the Civil War,” with a display of Civil War weapons by H. H. Thomas of Lexington.

March – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Forgotten Civil War”

May – LeRoy H. Fischer, “Adam Gurowski, Radical Extraordinary”

1963-1964

September – Robert W. Waitt Jr., “Sin During the Civil War”

November – Bell Wiley, “The Confederacy High Brass”

January – Holman Hamilton, “The American Presidency and the Civil War”

March – R. Gerald McMurtry, “The Assassination of Lincoln”

May – Allen P. Julian, “The Chickamauga Campaign”

1962-1963

September – Virgil Carrington Jones, “The Civil War at Sea”

November – Hamilton Hawkins Howze, “The Battle of Chancellorsville”

January – Raymond E. Myer, “Gen. Zollicoffer”

March – R. Gerald McMurtry, “Abraham Lincoln”

May – Edward M. Coffman, “The Civil War Career of Capt. Thomas B. Hines”

1961-1962

September – Grady McWhiney, “Factors for Victory (What the Confederacy Might Have Done)”

November – Roy Franklin Nichols, “The Brothers’ War”

January – A. D. Kirwan, “John J. Crittenden”

March – Rembert W. Patrick, “The Evacuation and Occupation of Richmond, Virginia”

May – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Last War Between Gentlemen”

1960-1961

September – Ed Pierce, “How the South Won the War”

November – Robert D. Meade, “Robert E. Lee”

January – James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., “The Army of Tennessee”

March – Richard B. Harwell, “Confederate Pi Box”

May – Bell Wiley, “The Men Who Wore the Blue”
1954-1960
1959-1960

September – George A. Dondero, “Abraham Lincoln”

November – Frederick Tilberg, “Command Decisions at Gettysburg”

January – H. H. Cunningham, “Medicine in the Confederacy, or Doctors in Gray”

March – Robert W. Johannsen, “The Eve of Conflict: Stephen A. Douglas and the Civil War”

May – John P. Dyer, “Confederate Calvary Action in the West”

1958-1959

September – Virgil Carrington Jones, “Eight Hours Before Richmond”

November – George L. Cashmore, “Shiloh”

January – Gilbert E. Govan, “A Confederate War Miscelany”

March – Gerald Capers, “The Fall and Occupation of Memphis and of New Orleans”

May – John C. Pemberton, “Gen. Pemberton and the Vicksburg Campaign”

1957-1958

September – R. Gerald McMurtry, “Confederate Gen. Ben Hardin Helm: Brother-in-Law of Abraham Lincoln”

November – Richard Nelson Current, “The Lincoln Nobody Knows”

January – Samuel Gurnsey Kelly, “The Red River Expedition”

March – William Best Hesseltine, “Andersonville”

May – Hudson Strode, “Discovering the Real Jefferson Davis: An Appraisal on His 150th Birthday”

1956-1957

September – Allen P. Julian, “The Atlanta Campaign”

November – Virgil Carrington Jones, “Grey Ghosts and Rebel Raiders”

January – A.D. Kirwan, “The Orphan Brigade”

March – George A. Dondero, “Mrs. Lincoln’s Influence on the President”

May – Bell I. Wiley, “Dear Folks: Home Letters of Johnny Reb and Billy Yank”

1955-1956

September – Charles P. Roland, “Albert Sidney Johnston, General of the Confederacy”

November – Allan Nevins, “The American s Fighter, 1861-1865: An Honest Estimate”

January – Frank Vandiver, “Stonewall Jackson’s Florida Campaign”

March – Alfred Leland Crabb, “The Twilight of the Nashville Gods”

May – Claude G. Bowers, “The Aftermath of the Civil War”

1954-1955

September – T. Harry Williams, “Life of Confederate General Pierre G.T. Beauregard”

November – Bruce Catton, “Phil Sheridan and the Battle of Five Forks”

January – Robert B. Browne, “Morgan’s Escape”

March – Clement Eaton, “Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Army”

May – Edgar DeWitte Jones. “The Gray Knight of the Confederacy”

1954

January – Robert Lee Kincaid, “Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed”

March – Robert S. Henry,“General Nathan Bedford Forrest”

May – Bell I. Wiley, “Life of the Common Soldier—Union and Confederate”

Thomas Jessee & Dr. Curt Fields Speakers for September 21st, 2026 Meeting

Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours

Thomas Jessee

Dr. Curt Fields

Correspondence Between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee Discussing Surrender Terms at Appomattox

UPCOMING SPEAKERS 2026-2027 SEASON

Thomas Jessee & Dr. Curt Fields

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

PAST SPEAKERS 1954-PRESENT

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