Mark R. Brewer on “Swim, Surrender or Die: The Union Army at the Battle Ball’s Bluff”

The Battle of Ball’s Bluff, fought October 21, 1861, near Leesburg, Virginia, was an early, small battle that left a major impact on the entire Union war effort.

The operation was planned as a minor reconnaissance across the Potomac to establish whether the Confederates were occupying the strategically important position of Leesburg. Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone commenced a raid, which resulted in a clash with enemy forces. A prominent U.S. Senator in uniform, Colonel Edward Baker, tried to reinforce the Union troops, but failed to ensure that there were enough boats for the river crossings, which were then delayed. Baker was killed, and Confederate reinforcements routed the rest of Stone’s expedition.

The Union Army forces under Major General George B. McClellan suffered a humiliating defeat. Although modest by later standards, the losses alarmed Congress, who then established the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a body that would provoke years of bitter political infighting.

Mark Brewer holds an M.A. in U.S. History from Temple University, and taught history for many years at the public school, county college, and university levels. Though his ancestors all fought for the Union, and one was killed at Ball’s Bluff, Mark was a Confederate re-enactor from 1983 to 1990 (nothing to do with politics, rather that Confederate re-enactors are more laid back and a lot more fun!). He has published five books; two fantasy fiction novels and three works of history. His 2019 book on Ball’s Bluff is entitled Swim, Surrender or Die: The Union Army at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. Mark and his wife Laurie reside in Pitman, NJ.

October 2020 Newsletter

“My Favorite Book Night” hosted by Paul Prentiss

We would like members to take 5 to 6 minutes to describe a book they would like to share with friends and the reason why. We will then allow a minute or two for members to ask questions. It doesn’t have to be a Civil War book but something you think will be of interest to the Round Table members. The meeting will take place on Zoom and be moderated by Paul Prentiss. Hopefully we can have a dozen or so members share their titles.

Please email Paul with your name, book title, author, and a very brief description of the book (no more than two sentences). We will provide the list of books being discussed to the members with the Zoom meeting notice. Paul’s email address can be found in your Membership Roster.

August 2020 Newsletter

Amy Murrell Taylor on “Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps”

The Civil War was just days old when the first enslaved men, women, and children began fleeing their plantations to seek refuge inside the lines of the Union army as it moved deep into the heart of the Confederacy. In the years that followed, hundreds of thousands more followed in a mass exodus from slavery that would destroy the system once and for all. Drawing on an extraordinary survey of slave refugee camps throughout the country, Embattled Freedom reveals as never before the everyday experiences of these refugees from slavery as they made their way through the vast landscape of army-supervised camps that emerged during the war.

Amy Murrell Taylor, Wednesday June 27, 2018, in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Mark Mahan

Dr. Taylor’s research focuses on the social and cultural history of the U.S. South in the 19th century. Her latest book, Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps (UNC Press, 2018), has received multiple awards including the Merle Curti Social History Award and the Avery O. Craven Award, both from the Organization of American Historians, as well as the Tom Watson Brown Book Award from the Society of Civil War Historians, and the Nau Book Prize from the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History. It has also been awarded the Frederick Douglass Book Prize given by the Gilder Lehrman Center for for the Study of Slavery, Abolition, and Resistance, Yale University, and was short listed for the Stone Book Award given by the Museum of African American History.

She previously examined families divided by national loyalties in The Divided Family in Civil War America (UNC Press, 2005). Taylor is the co-editor, with Stephen Berry, of the “UnCivil Wars” series with the University of Georgia Press, as well as an editorial advisory board member of the Civil War Monitor magazine and a past member of the board of editors of the Journal of Southern History. She is also involved in a variety of public history and historic preservation projects in central Kentucky.

September 2020 Newsletter