In december of 1864, when wilsons raid came through alabama and hit columbus. The battle of columbus took place april 16, 1865. General james wilson is a Union Cavalry officer, and he commanded 10,000 cavalry troops. Their job was to attack through the states of alabama and georgia. Their goal is to destroy important targets like columbus because of industrial output to disrupt supply lines, disrupt communications, anything they can do to further along the collapse of the confederacy. Typically an ironclad, especially like the jackson, would be used at a port city, and if there is an approaching army, the vessel can move up and down or around the waterway and fire its big guns at the opposing forces. This is typically what confederate ironclads did. However, in the case of the jackson, she is right at completion in april 65 and there is no crew for it yet. Officially, the Confederate Navy has her on the list, official navy register, as the next ship to be officially commissioned. Howev
I have asked a variety of voices, some of those who are a emerging from a variety of perspectives some of whom we will hear from this weekend and some of those who are here exclusively tonight. Greatea is to talk about defense. Whof you who cant have come in previous years this conversation is apt to wobble in all sorts of interesting and fun ways. I am going to pitch a couple of softballs, lets talk a little bit and then we will open things up to the floor because we want this to be a conversation for you to have the opportunity to pick the brains of some of the finest historians we have here. I am going to start to my immediate right with my great polish brother. People like chris, that still does not narrow it down. Of thes the director memorial town in north folk. If you ever have a chance to see it i know it is the civil war not world war ii. Chris likened it to me in a description, it is like being in charge of a president ial library and you can see what impact macarthur had wit
Emerging civil war blog. I am pleased to introduce our esteemed panel tonight. I have asked a variety of purposes, some of whom are some of whom are from a variety of perspectives some of whom we will hear from this weekend and some of those who are here exclusively tonight. The idea is to talk about great defenses. For those of you who come to the symposium in previous years this conversation is apt to wobble in all sorts of interesting and fun and cool ways. I am going to pitch a couple of softballs to the panel, let them talk a little bit, and then we will open things up to the floor because we want this to be a conversation, for you to have the opportunity to pick the brains of some of the finest historians we have working with us here at emerging civil war. I am going to start to my immediate right with my great polish brother. People are like chris. Which one . The polish one. That still does not narrow it down. [laughter] chris is the director of the memorial town in norfolk. If
Welcome. Im the director of the athenaeum and im delighted to welcome you to this, the third and final program in our wonderful collaboration with the poets theater. If you missed the earlier presentations, you will find. Ideos of those on our website at this point, it would be a perfect time to silence any noisemaking devices you might have with you. Just a note, there are illuminated signs that will lead you to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency. David is the playwright of this evenings performance. Professor emeritus of english at Simmons College and literary director of the poets theater, hes appeared in productions with the actors shakespeare project, the Harvard Center for the arts, the Repertory Theater committee drama club my National Public radio and many others. He holds a phd from the university of north carolina. Consumer of astute the rare materials in our library from all of which are available for anybody to see upon request. Think about inspiration you might t
Probably 1970s timeframe. How is this different from the southern version you heard earlier in the semester . What do you think . Extremely somber. Charles somber. In, really kind of depressing, right . Has the feeling of the war. Early on, there was people who are wanting to fight. Now people are sick of it. This has been building up over time. Charles ok. That is a good point. You said they have been fighting for over three years and it is wearing on people. There is so much death. There is so much loss and destruction and people are getting tired of it. Northern war wariness we ariness is gaining momentum in the summer and fall of 1864. And we begin to see during the election year, the campaigning starts in the summer and we begin to see the democrats step up their attacks on the lincoln administration. We see them come back, and the author says, boldly returning from canada. What are they going to exploit . What are they going to focus on in the election . I think they are going to