Today was one of touring and teaching. Our attendees examined Gettysburg through the eyes of soldiers on their morning tours. Then they spent the afternoon in classrooms engaging with a wide variety of topics.
Here were our tours:
- Michael S. Schroyer of the 147th Pennsylvania led by Sue Boardman
- William C. Ward of the 4th Alabama led by Garry Adelman
- William Henry Francis of the 14th U.S. Regulars led by John Rudy
- Lieutenant J. Warren Jackson of the 8th Louisiana Infantry (Louisiana Tigers) led by Ed Bearss & Scott Mingus
- Colonel David Ireland of the 137th New York led by Jennifer Murray
- Private Reuben Ruch of the 153rd Pennsylvania led by Charlie Fennell
After lunch we had break-out sessions offering a wide variety of classes for our attendees. Here’s the list:
- Partisan Rangers: The End of Authorized Guerrilla Service in the Confederacy taught by Barton Myers
- Picturing War: Doodles & Drawings in Soldiers’ Letters taught by Megan Kate Nelson
1864: Ebb Tide in Gettysburg taught by John Rudy - Mapping Memory: Digitizing Sherman’s March taught by Anne Sarah Rubin
- “Lee to the Rear”: The Texas Brigade, Robert E. Lee, and the Chances for Confederate Victory in 1864 taught by Susannah Ural
- One of These Things is Not Like the Others: Making Sense of the Military Prison Crisis of 1864 taught by Eric Leonard
- “And So the Murderous Work Went On”: 1864 Frontal Assaults taught by Jennifer Murray
Crisis in Command: Union & Confederate Leadership Challenges in the Wilderness Campaign taught by Christian Keller - Re-Thinking Confederate Defeat in the Summer of 1864 taught by Kevin Levin
Old Litchfield’s Best Sons: The Relationship Between a Connecticut Town & Its Regiment taught by Peter Vermilyea - Our final panel was a conversation about the conference and Civil War history generally. Panelists included Peter Carmichael, Brooks Simpson, Susannah Ural, Barton Myers, Kathryn Shively Meier, Jen Murray, Anne Sarah Rubin, and Keith Bohannon. Much of the conversation turned to the current state and future of the field.
My sincere apologies that this post is short and not very reflective. In the next few days, as we all come down off this experience, I will have more to say (for what little it matters). But for now, my head is too caught in the whirlwind of the moment to do the experience justice.
