each of our veterans is a link in a proud chain that has stood for the defense of our country, from gettysburg to iwo jima. each understood the price of freedom and shouldered that burden on our behalf. our veterans represent the best of america. you are the spine of america. all of us owe you. on veterans day, and every day we honor that great that and recommit ourselves to giving our sacred obligation as a nation, we honor what you have done. we have many obligations. i would have gotten in trouble when i was a young senator for saying we only have one truly sacred obligation -- to properly prepare and equip those we send into harm's way and care for the and their families while they are deployed and when they return home. this is a lifetime sacred commitment. it never expires. for me, for joe, for the entire family, it is personal. when both -- beau was deployed to iraq, after spending six months in kosovo trying to set up a criminal justice system, eight got a call from him one day. he said, dead, what are you doing friday? he said, i would like you to pin my bars on. someone has got to fi

each of our veterans is a link in a proud chain that has stood for the defense of our country, from gettysburg to iwo jima. each understood the price of freedom and shouldered that burden on our behalf. our veterans represent the best of america. you are the spine of america. all of us owe you. on veterans day, and every day we honor that great that and recommit ourselves to giving our sacred obligation as a nation, we honor what you have done. we have many obligations. i would have gotten in trouble when i was a young senator for saying we only have one truly sacred obligation -- to properly prepare and equip those we send into harm's way and care for the and their families while they are deployed and when they return home. this is a lifetime sacred commitment. it never expires. for me, for joe, for the entire family, it is personal. when both -- beau was deployed to iraq, after spending six months in kosovo trying to set up a criminal justice system, eight got a call from him one day. he said, dead, what are you doing friday? he said, i would like you to pin my bars on. someone has got to fi

less than 5 months after union army won the battle of gettysburg there was a dedication ceremony for soldiers killed during the battle, a man named edward everett was feature speaker, he spoke for two hours, no one recalled what he said, abraham lincoln spoke for a few moments. less than 300 words. 10 sentences. that is all-time it took for him to capture essence of the moment, and soul of the country. if we needed a reminder that leadership can be modest, and leaders can be humble. this is this speech, can we imagine a modern political leader showing off anywhere and not expecting to be the center of attention? and adoration and keynote speaker. not really modestez of where, when and how long lincoln spoke but modesty of what we wrote and said and believed. lincoln said, the world will little note or long remember what we say here. but it can never forget what they did here. deflecting praise. those are rare traits in modern day leaders, we're not likely to remember what any modern political leaders said 158 years after they said it lincoln described our nation as conceived in liber

the battle of gettysburg. you don't think about the campaign as much. and we're going to talk about the entire campaign, not the infantry. i love the infantry, but this is the role of calgary. i have written as tammy mentioned a number of books on the civil war. these are some of the maps studies, and i'm constantly criticized about this one. i love this book. i love them all. they're all my children. there's not a lot of calvary. couldn't put them in. couldn't fit. so i came out with this one that just specializes on the calvary in the gettysburg campaign. what i'm going to do today, the major thing, i've only got about 40, 45 minutes so i'm going to go fast, is going to talk about the multiple roles that the calvary played during the campaign of gettysburg. and i think you're going to appreciate these guys much more than you currently do. these enjoys are constantly in the saddle at least infantry got to rest. these guys are constantly in motion in a variety of attacks. you know these two gent lmen, alfred p

the third phase obviously is the battle of gettysburg. we're going to talk quickly about five different actions here. want you to think what are those five. don't tell me but see if you could figure out what those five were. most people are only going to come up with four. and the retreat. okay. and the retreat is fascinating. how does lee get those wagons back to virginia and how does the union army try to prevent the wagons from getting to virginia. so those are the things that we're going to talk about today. okay. here we go. now hopefully, could you all see the map? way back there. okay. i'm going to try to use my pointer, too. the army as you know we're talking about after chancellorsville, they're on either side of the rappahannock river and the beginning of june 1863. and pleasanton has been tasked by booker to determine where lee is moving. okay. and what is happening. now, their worried about stewart, jeb stewart is right here around brandy station. there is going to be a recognition to find out where the heck is stewart because

of gettysburg, not the campaign. we will talk about the entire campaign not the infantry. i love the infantry but this is the role of cavalry. i mention a number of books on the civil war, these are the map studies and i'm constantly criticized about this one. there is not a lot of cavalry. couldn't fit. came out with this one that specializes, what i'm going to do today, i only have 45 minutes. i will go fast, talk about the multiple roles the cavalry played during the campaign of gettysburg and you will appreciate these guys more than you currently do. these guys are constantly in the saddle. the guys are constantly in motion doing a variety of activities. let's jump into it. you know these two gentlemen. two major generals, the army of the potomac cavalry, jeb stuart, his counterpart have been in command of their army's cavalry for over a year, they are experienced. they know potentially how to run a cavalry. the organization is very different. you see on the union side it is much more sophisticated. you have divi

. >> a better book on gettysburg, what the world desperately needs. [laughter] but of course like everyone, you feel like you're doing this from a different angle and i think that william. and three confederates and - and the idea is that obviously highly biographical and a pickup on july 1st and rather it starts at the end of the campaign. and when we think about the operations we included stories of the rank and file you see the lives almost at that very moment, the point of contact. and rather of course the things that the men carried with him, and the long personal stories that they had and carried throughout the campaign rated so the idea is that these individuals will provide through which we can see broader issues at work and so many of these are cultural and social things and not deeply interested in and i think that throughout the campaign studies in a way that i will be doing the things that will does predict not going to do any evaluations, all of which i think are extraordinarily important and i think that this book will do people may be n

an active unthinking for learned charge like the light or gade in the crimea or perhaps a charge at gettysburg. it was a practical response to a swiftly unraveling circumstance and it was absolutely the right decision. any other decision would have led to chaos. he tried to turn around back down under the guns of those 42 pounders disaster. once through the minefield without any casualties of farragut squadron easily defeated the smaller confederate fleet and seized command of mobile bay. along with sherman's capture of atlanta farragut seizure of mobile bay help secure lincoln's re-election and i have always believed that as the single most turchie jackley impactful event of the civil war and lincoln's re-election in 1864. it's easy for me to hold up their gut is an example of good leadership for my midshipman my students of the war colleges while commanders and captains for his faithfulness to his mentor, for his instinctive and unthinking loyalty to his country and his quick thinking and a crisis. so what about this guy? i wanted to talk about nemitz this morning partly because he gets to t

based on a foundation of gettysburg history, certainly. and it really has -- you know, the novelist did it so well that you often can't separate the fact from the fiction. it really effects the way we look at these stories. there were so many great stories. the one that always stood out to me was armistead and hancock. two friends, almost brothers, served together in the u.s. army, torn apart by the civil war. a teary-eyed farewell in 1861 and meet here, where armi stead's men attack hancock's men and both fall wounded. i wanted to learn more about that and there wasn't much out there. i wanted to read a book on armistead and hancock and there wasn't one. why there's one now. i thought okay, i'll go back. you folks may have gone through the same sort of things as you're digging through the movie. i thought there has to be a lot written about the confederate general who achieved the deepest penetration. 158 years and one book. 64 pages and -- no, it's done by william mauts, now the ceo of the gettysburg foundation. and another one with a fe

flight 93 and "gettysburg rebels", who came home for the awards. it's our newest release, behind the legend of two friends at the turning point of the civil war. and this will be the foundation for his presentation today i will let you know this book is the hot off the press. it's not officially released until july 15th. so you can get it here first now. >> he's also served on the board of trustees with the history center. and previously on the board of directors of the national memorial. and recently retired two days ago, from a 43-year career in communications and media. i'd like to present tom mcmillan. >> thank you to the heritage center. this is a great place it's my favorite civil war bookstore in the country. it's good to be with this group of pretty distinguished speakers. >> but to start, you can probably guess where this book is going a little bit. i want to start by saying i love the movie "gettisbur." it's what got me into studying the battle assen adult. i drove here and have had the illness ever since. the movie before i read the nove

it's 64 pages ended sunday when mobs who is the ceo of gettysburg foundation. and you know it's well-resourced and well done but a few years ago they did a book on the armistead but there's not a lot of looks. there's a lot on hancock. he runs for president in 1980 -- 1880. most of them barely mentioned armistice and some don't mention him at all. what's going on here? i talked to some of my friends some of you are sitting in the audience and i said what you know about armistead and hancock and what they knew was from the movie having an emotional conversation talking about -- and this is one of the great themes of the movie. there we go. you want to get your powerpoint downgraded the beginning. so help me if i ever raise my hand against you may god strike me dead. may god strike me dead. that's how close he is coming. he couldn't bring himself to think about fighting hancock even though they agreed to fight each other in the civil war but that's the movie version or there's only one person who is there to write about it and that's hancock. she does "armistead

was the pennsylvania college not gettysburg college and the lutheran theological seminary in gettysburg. i have a 22-year-old officer. >> is one of functional arm frequencies literally leading a bunch of students who have never heard a shot fired in anger. what could go wrong? >> despite this, despite this he and the 26th pennsylvania 1863 and they're going to take up a position on marsh creek along cashtown north of gettysburg pennsylvania to face lee's keep looking out, looking to the west seeing a long column of guys clad in gray and butternut marching to you. they will be escorted by a battalion of the confederate calvary as they advanced to the pennsylvania countryside. in one of those weird twist of fate weird luck has a weird way of popping up in life and who's in the calvary show? none other than a large white. with two men representing loudoun county. one allowed and borne one but adopted to loudoun county. opposite sides of the battlefield. on luckily for luther slater i say what can be good and what can be bad. now you're turning it around your giving me a hard time for an. >

gettysburg. but for right now, in 1861, it's literally the biggest thing he's happened since manassas. so it does make a big difference, it makes an impact on the lives of people here in loud loudoun. there is a funeral procession, a band plays, and in jackson another parade takes his body home to his wife and children. his death also leaves his family in a tight spot. erasmus was the youngest of the sons of the family, didn't have a lot of resources. so there isn't even a headstone on his grave for about 50 years after he dies. but that doesn't mean that he was forgotten. because in fact, virginia miller kept carrying him in her memory. and she wasn't the only one either. there are some interesting little pieces as we go forward in the war that make one think that his memory stayed alive. for example, in 1864, there was a william henry luce who was imprisoned on johnson island. and he wrote to a friend of his, someone he knew, talking about his old friends. so william henry luce at that time was

gettysburg. which in 1863 isn't exactly the best place to go if you're trying to avoid the civil war. >> lucky. >> so lucky. >> lucky luther. >> lucky, really. so he's a guy that really can't avoid the sense of duty, the sense of patriotism. and so as the confederate army, the army in northern virginia, is crossing the mason-dixon line, entering pennsylvania, he's going to offer his services to the governor of pennsylvania and he is going to receive a commission in the 26th pennsylvania emergency militia, specifically in company "a" of the 26th. and one of the reasons why this is so cool is company "a" is made up of students from gettysburg college, what was the pennsylvania college, now gettysburg college, and the lutheran theological seminary in gettysburg. here you have a 22-year-old officer who has seen some experience, he's been horribly wounded in battle. >> he has one functional arm. >> he has one functional arm. he's literally going into battle with his arm into a sling almost a year afte

is made up of students from gettysburg college, what was the pennsylvania college, now gettysburg college and the lujan theological seminary in gettysburg. so you have a 22-year-old officer who has seen some experience, he's been horribly wounded in battle. >> he has one functional arm. >> yeah, he's literally going into battle with his arm in a sling almost a year after his wounding. leading a bunch of students who have never heard a shot fired in anger. and -- >> what could go wrong? >> what could go wrong? >> despite this, despite this he and the 26th pennsylvania are going to march out on the morning of june 26th, 1863, and they're going to take up a position on marsh creek along the cashtown pike west of gettysburg, pennsylvania, to face lee's battle hardened veterans of the army of northern virginia. so i can't even imagine what is going through this guy's mind that morning as you look out, looking to the west, you're seeing a long column of guys clad in gray and butternut and marching towards you. what slater had -- did not know is these were men of the corp, hardened veterans and

from why was gettysburg informed? two more years of war, more casualties after gettysburg and before gettysburg, or property destroyed and civilians turned homeless, what the heck gettysburg accomplish other than turning back a movement by lee? my was it. let's look at it as leave unit because we are heading to phase two of my copyrighted history of lee. this was his first crisis. as he saw it, he had every advantage in the campaign, he believed the time of the battle's soldiers were fit incompetent, he controlled the top of the campaign and battle forcing the enemy to react to him. he had several clear opportunities to smash the union army that he could not produce a decisive victory at the time made it very clear to him he could not do it at any time. how did we react? 1863, he resigned. jefferson davis refused to accept it but what stood out to me in his letter was when he said i cannot even accomplish what i myself and desire. we mentally regrouped and crafted himself a new mission in place of the great victory wi

i'll go back to gettysburg. why is it when we think about the summer of 1863 in pennsylvania, we think of them as a band of brothers. when it came to the temptation of taking against pennsylvania civilians, they resisted. why do we perfect over other facts? the army in northern virginia wasn't army, we know a few hundred if not more african-americans, they were sent back to the slave market in virginia. why when we got to gettysburg and look more, the man who shot at each other, they came to that spring and died not as enemies but american brothers. why does that prevail over matter? july 3 after they made a suicidal frontal attack having to leave their wounded in the middle of the field crying out through the the afternoon and when finally comrades went out to try to carry them off the field, what are the confederate duplex understandably so, they gunned down, shot down the men just trying to provide medical relief. why is it when we are at charge from you want to talk about his military career stressing he was

trends are coming back to gettysburg in increasing numbers. they're developing what we know today as gettysburg national military park and it's during that period that sickles, there he is, this is probably about 1888, 25th anniversary, it's during that period that sickles strikes up a relationship with his july 2 opponent, james longstreet. and, you know, they spend many years together, they go to many events together. time tonight doesn't allow me to tell all of their drinking stories but some of them are pretty good. but sickles and longstreet basically support each other's gettysburg records for the remainder of their lives. in '92, longstreet summarized it as, quote, i believe it is now conceded that the advance position at the peach orchard saved that battlefield to the union's cause, end quote. longstreet literally went to his grave believing sickles was right. or did he? well, you know, people are kind of skeptical about this, is this too old buddies kind of propping each other up a little bit. longstreet said that by moving forward, s

book on the gettysburg campaign. he's also co-author with wayne motts, the book pickets charge at gettysburg. key and the author of a guy to legendary tax on gettysburg. it's also cohost of the popular battle of gettysburg podcast, free on all platforms. he has written articles for publications, one of the primary content designers in the american battlefields drop, a speaker for civil war round tables, on monumental mysteries, civil war talk radio. he was featured in the july 2013 issue a civil war monitor. i'd now like to present to you, james hessler, who will be presenting his program, neutral ground, sickles, meade, and the gettysburg peach orchard. thank you. [applause] wow >> thank you, tammy, for the introduction. i was going to tell you to not go too far because i don't have -- so we are in good shape. when the crowd. this is really humbling to see people standing in back. i've got these great studio lights shining in my face. but i still recognize a lot of familiar faces here. i hope this is good. [laughs]

the trouble starts after the battle of gettysburg 1862. meade at that time performed well but didn't get support from a guy and i'm convinced sort of the fiction between meade and the officers of the third corporeally exists after the battle of fredericksburg. so you have that dynamic going on and after the battle there's a dispute between meade and hooker. let me put it this way. there's a dispute whether or not madee is favored withdrawal back across the river. and they start pulling all the generals. did you want to move forward, that sort of thing. sickles of course supports his buddy hooker. meade says he does not favor a withdrawal, and this gets in the newspapers. there's a little bit of this debate going on which i think is fascinating because, again, this whole idea of advance or retreat after a major battle is something that seems to dog the army of the potomac after almost every campaign. we always act like it's unique to gettysburg and it's not. kind of the seeds are getting planted for the future meade sickles controversy. whe

i created gettysburg national military park. i guess that's okay, but somebody else would have done that that's revisionist history doesn't matter if somebody else would have done it the sickles bill did do it. not that he was the only guy during that era, but let's you let's give credit. work credits due and i know we're running short on time here, but just a couple more. throughout the period veterans are coming back. they're coming back to gettysburg and increasing numbers. they are developing. well, we know today is gettysburg national military park and it's during that period that sickles there he is and this is probably about 1888 25th anniversary, but it's during that period that sickles strikes up a relationship with his july 2nd opponent james longstreet. and you know, they spend many years together. they go to many events together time tonight does not allow me to tell all of their drinking stories and that but some of them are pretty good. but sickles and longstreet basically mutually support each other's gettysburg r

he's also co-author of last road north, the book on the gettysburg campaign, co-author of immediately coming up book on ohio and introduce paintballs who's here to talk about the man we love to hate, john pope so here is dan welch, a man with too many class and not enough free time. [laughter] [applause] >> good evening, everyone. one of the things i've not shared with a lot of you is my absolute love of the sovereign rock bands leonard skynyrd. [applause] -fortunate to meet some of the plane crash survivors who visited all the graves of those who perished october 1977, i've heard wonderful stories from some of their former managers and group is one of the stories i heard as he was getting popular, 70s wearing on their fame was rising, a lot of acts they would open talk to their manager and say don't let them close with freeburg, who can't top that. this would be from plans like peter and the rolling stones and now i know exactly the situation they were in trying to follow gary gallagher but in all honesty, i want to begin tonight by thinking my colleagues and all the members for thei

i'm here to talk about dan welch who is a very long time seasonal ranger at gettysburg military park where i had the pleasure of meeting and working with him for a couple of years. also the co-author of "last road north" on the gettysburg campaign, co-author of an immediately coming out book on ohio and antietam and also the co-editor of a new series coming out. and so with no too much else to say, i want to introduce dan welch who is here to talk about the man we love to hate, john pope. here is dan welch, the man with too many laughs and not enough free time. [ applause ] >> well, good evening, everyone. one of the things i've not shared with a lot of you is my absolute love of the southern rock band lynyrd skynyrd. [ applause ] i've been very fortunate over the last several years to meet some of the plane crash survivors. i've visited all the graves of those that perished in october 1977. i've heard some wonderful stories from some of their former managers and crew. and one of the stories i heard was, as lynyrd skynyrd was getting very popular as the '70s were wearing on and their

i'm here to talk about dan welch, a very long time ranger at gettysburg national military park, where i had the pleasure of meeting and working with him for a couple of years. he is also the co-author of the ecw on the gettysburg campaign, coming out immediately on ohio and -- and an anniversary series that has just come out. and so, with not too much else to say, i want to introduce dan welch who is here to talk about, the man we love to hate, john hope. so here is dan welch, the man with too many labs are not enough free time. [applause]. what good evening everyone. one thing i've not shared with you is my love of the southern rock band lynyrd skynyrd. -- i've heard from some of their former managers in crew. and one of the things that i've heard is that as was lynyrd skynyrd getting popular and their fame was rising, a lot of their acts that they would open for talks, they would say, don't let them open with free bird, we can't top that. and so now i know exactly the situation that they were in, trying to follow gary gallagher. but i want to thank my colleagues and all the members

flight 93 and "gettysburg rebels",

in the historiography and his role in the preservation and he's i've said at the outset if you love gettysburg as much as we do, i think it's important to understand all of the phases of dance sickles his career love him or not hate him or not. love to hate him or hate to love them. so all right with that. i think we're almost out of time. i'm seeing the q in the back of the room. thank you and thanks. at he spent history for more of this date in history post. >> hi, buddy. i am john tracy, a newer member of emerging civil war no small part of the recruitment efforts of the present i am introducing here is dan welch, a very long time seasonal ranger at military park where i have the absolute pleasure of meeting and working with him for a couple of years. he's also co-author of last road north, the book on the gettysburg campaign, co-author of immediately coming up book on ohio and introduce paintballs who's here to talk about the man we love to hate, john pope so here is dan welch, a man with too many class and not enough free time. [laughter] [applause] >> good evening, everyone. one of the t

he was not mobile and gettysburg wood was festering. he was unable to mount a horse. his men were marching under heat. he it was over 95 degrees that day and they were traversing poor roads and they had such faulty maps that one of his division francis barlow's who you see wandered up in the wrong direction got completely lost and would be out of action. it's not until 5:30 in the morning, 10:30 they start, 5:30 in the afternoon did the division begin to approach the confederate position. at that point couriers arrived from grant and smith urging hancock to support smith's impending attack. hancock is surprised by the urgency of these orders. he's under no illusion at this point that he's expected to participate in the fight and it was almost impossible to find out where smith wanted him to go. there was poor staff work and there were no maps so wartime is a lapse for this. now smith will finally be successful. he identified a routine that provided some depp allayed between battery six and seven. that's where highway 36 goes under the road and his plan was to send a r

it's wonderful to be here with everybody on the anniversary of the battle of gettysburg. we'll be telling erik's story here in just a little bit, but just some food for thought as we get started. i would like all of you to think about what is friendship? what is the value of friendship? who is your best friend and why are they your best friend? interestingly enough, these were some of the key themes that emerged as we were trying to explore this larger than life historical figure in the form of major dick winters. and i think an apt analogy, especially here in get did i seeburg on july 2nd is that we should think of dick winters as the joshua chamberlain of world war ii. and we can think of this for a number of reasons. we can look at their personalities, their backgrounds, their educations, their upbringings. these were two young men who were born of pacifist families, they had this hard work, diligent attitude instilled in them as young men. they believed they could move through life and, you know, promote themselves through life through the power of higher education. n

it's wonderful to be here with everybody on the anniversary of the battle of gettysburg. over telling eric story here and a little bit. some food for thought as we get started, i would like all of you to think about what is friendship? who is your best friend and why are they your best friend? interestingly enough these are some of the key themes that emerged as were trying to explore the larger than life historical figure in the winners. i think an analogy here in gettysburg on july 2 is we should think of dick winters as a joshua chamberlain of world war ii. they can look at personalities, backgrounds, education, upbringing. these were two young men who were born of pacifist families. they had hard work and diligent attitude instilled in them as young men. they believed they could move through life promote themselves through life of higher education. neither of them had formal military education. and yet despite all of that they come to be some of the best-known officers and the iconic clashes of their generation. why is this so? popular culture has something to do with

it is foremost in people's mind it's easier to memorize 270 towards gettysburg address and it's in the wake of world war i for a lot of interesting reasons it sort of begins to fade. and then the original america first movement of the isolationist and the one run up to world war ii by adopting the farewell address i think fundamentally creates a misimpression it's an isolationist document and its read from an american nazi rally in madison square garden will get to that later. >> will get the foreign policy soon. lindsey can you take us back to the 18th century and some of this language. john gives us a great way it speaks the 21st century. how would this have been read in september 1796? as you said there's an election just around the corner. >> yes i think as john alluded to at the very beginning, this was an intensely partisan will meet think about the challenges we are facing today in terms of misinformation and disinformation. party structures, nativism, fears about foreign interference all the things except they have not done it before. as joe talked about their students of histo

so, it is in people's minds even those easier to memorize the gettysburg address. and world war i for a, lot of interesting reasons it sort of began to say, the original american movement and the run up to world war ii by adopting the farewell address. i think fundamentally, it created a missed impression that it's an isolated document and in the madison square garden, we will get to that but -- >> lindsey, can you take us back to the 18th century and some of this language. john, giving us a great way to speak to 24 century. but how this is been red in 96. like you, said there's an election just around the corner. >> yeah, i think as john alluded to at the very beginning this isn't intensely partisan when you think of the challenges that we face today in terms of misinformation and disinformation. when you think of all the things, they hadn't done it before. let's not forget the constitution. so, this government already constitutes a second chance of getting it right. so, one misstep would lead to the nation's -- washington share that fear during the debate that jo