Walter Day on “Assault on the Pegasus Bridge – Thwarting Rommel’s plan to roll-up the British Invasion Force on Sword Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944”

Walter Day

Why is this operation important to study? This operation was planned and executed almost perfectly with 181 men in six gliders capturing two bridges spanning the Orne River and the Caen Canal intact!

The assaulting force suffered one fatality. Having visited the site and seen the bridges and gliders, it is very impressive what this small force was able to do.

Walter Day is a microwave engineer who has worked in the Bay Area for 45 years.  He has served as President of the PCWRT and is presently the Program Chairman. He has studied the Civil War since he was a teen and has researched his Great-Grandfather’s service with the Army of Northern Virginia. Having served as an officer in the U.S.Navy he has a more than passing interest in Naval actions of the Civil War.

Jack Mather on “A Family of Fighting Americans”

Jack Mather

A family of fighting Americans: Valley Forge, War of 1812, Second Seminole War, Mexican–American War, and the Civil War. At least four family members were killed in action. One member created an important American Historical Symbol (celebrated this last weekend), another is a figure in a famous battlefield painting that we all know.

Fred Bohmfalk on “A Personal Look at the Lives of Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan”

The talk explored the West Point careers, married lives, and civilian careers of these very different men, and dealt with topics seldom explored by historians.

Dana Lombardy on “Why did World War Two happen—How were the United States and its allies able to defeat Nazi Germany?”

Dana Lombardy

Dana described  how the “sudden” cease-fire in November 1918 was later used by Nazi propaganda to as proof that Germany’s “unbeaten armies were “stabbed in the back” by their political leaders. In addition, the 1919 Treaty of Versailles worried many important people at the time that the treaty’s harsh terms would only lead to another war. But what was the treaty’s real impact on World War Two? What does this mean to Americans today? What lessons can we learn from the mistakes of the past?

Dana Lombardy was an Associate Online Editor for Armchair General magazine and now does research, writing and design through Lombardy Studios. Dana is best known for his nearly twenty television appearances, including multiple episodes of The History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun” series. He has contributed as an editor, cartographer, graphic artist and designer on many books, games, and magazines, and was Publisher of Napoleon Journal from 1996 to 2000.

Bob Hubbs on “Four Regiments and Four Privates”

Often CWRT presentations are prepared based on an important Civil War battle, a famous Civil War person, a famous regiment or unit, or a special Civil War site or location. Bob’s presentation was prepared without any special fame and any famous leaders, but by selecting four unknown or little known regiments and an unknown or little known private from regiment and then doing research. Selection of the regiments and how the privates were selected will be presented and why they were selected. The four regiments will be followed from their formation until the end of the Civil War, and the movements, battles, and actions they encountered during that period. What happened to “their” private during the Civil War period? Why select only four regiments and four privates?

There were unexpected challenges is finding information about the regiments and the privates who were selected—several of those challenges will be introduced and discussed. It was a surprising search, discovering more information than expected, and it was much later after several years of research that Bob realized that he had material to give a presentation.

Bob Hubbs is active in the following Round Table groups: San Francisco, Peninsula, and South Bay. He has presented to each of those groups multiple times over the years. He has also served as the Program Chair for each of those groups.

From 1956 he has been active in research and laboratory work. During that period he has been called chemist, teacher, educator, Professor, Dean, and Historian. His Civil War interests are Grant, Lincoln, and he has been called on several occasions “A Dam Yankee”.

MEETING CANCELED. THE FOLLOWING PRESENTATION WILL BE RESCHEDULED.

Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City, 11:30 on Tuesday, July 15. See the MEETING INFO menu item for specific times and directions. This month’s topic is

Jack Mather on “San Francisco World Fairs, 1894–1940”

Jack Mather

These World Fairs were technological marvels and “set the bar” for such events for decades to come. Don’t miss Jack’s talk.

Jack Mather is a long-time member of the PCWRT and teacher of history.

Howard Jones on “Corinth and the Battle of Shiloh”

Howard Jones

April of 2012 marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh. In this battle over 65,000 Federal troops and 43,000 Confederates engaged in two bloody days of warfare. Total casualties from this battle exceeded 25,000. The battle was fought at Shiloh, but it was not about Shiloh – it was always about Corinth. In fact, the Shiloh Battlefield is only 20 miles north of the City of Corinth.

Corinth was of great strategic importance to both armies. It was a key railroad center and served both the (east/west) Memphis & Charleston railroad and the (north/south) Mobile & Ohio railroad. It was also just 20 miles from Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. In 1861, the Federal government developed its strategy for invading the Confederacy in the West. The object was to attack and capture key rail centers and waterways in the South.

In April, 1862 General Henry Halleck ordered the Army of the Tennessee under General Ulysses Grant and the Army of the Ohio under General Don Carlos Buell to converge on Pittsburg Landing for the purpose of attacking and capturing Corinth. As General Grant waited for the troops under General Buell to arrive he was attacked by 43,000 Confederate troops under the Command of Albert Sidney Johnston. The two day battle that ensued is the subject of this presentation.

Howard Jones is a long time member (and current president) of the Peninsula Civil War Roundtable and a student of the Civil War.

Jack Mather on “James Wolfe and John Burgoyne and The Struggle for Control of North America”

Jack Mather

Jack Mather told the story of two British generals, one of whom enjoyed poetry and the other a noted playwright. One a military success, the other judged a failure.

Jack Mather is a long-time member of the PCWRT and is well read on broad historical topics. Jack is a retired teacher of history at both the high school and college level.

Hal Jespersen on “Civil War Cartography”

front page of CWMaps.com

Readers say that one of the most important features of a modern book about the Civil War is a good collection of readable, accurate maps. Hal’s presentation revealed some of the details behind the process for creating such maps. Hal Jespersen’s cartography business has produced over 800 maps for Wikipedia and numerous books, magazines, and battlefield displays. Hal discussed  the state of mapmaking during the war, reviewed the work of some famous cartographers, and described tools and processes he uses to create maps. Some of the technical concepts included were projection, elevation rendering, evaluating the accuracy of the Official Records Atlas, and plotting the courses of 19th century rivers, roads, and railroads.

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