Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table

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Fredericksburg, VA
Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table

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The RVCWRT was founded as an organization open to all people interested in learning about the Civil War and historic preservation. Want to Attend a Meeting?

To Apply - Visit:
https://www.rappvalleycivilwar.org/membership

Our History:
The Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table (RVCWRT) was founded as an organization open to all people interested in learning about the Civil War and in preserving the hallowed ground where the soldiers fought. Our Meetings:
Held the 2nd Monday of each month at Brock's Riverside Grill in Fredericksburg, featuring a catered dinner, a speaker, a book raffle, & a short business meeting, as well as time to socialize with your friends. Visitors are welcome to attend a meeting to see if they like it! Reservations are required for dinner, but not for the meeting.*

Dinner Reservation Policy

RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR DINNER, AND SHOULD BE MADE PRIOR TO THE THURSDAY BEFORE THE MONDAY MEETING. Beginning in 2021, dinner price is $30 for members, invited guests, and non members that join at the event. Dinner price is $35 for other non-members.

To make reservations, e-mail the dinner meeting coordinator at [email protected] (Preferred) or call 540-479-1299 and leave a message on the answering machine. YOU may be BILLED for any uncancelled reservations.

To cancel a reservation you must contact the dinner meeting coordinator at [email protected] (Preferred) or 540-479-1299 by 2:00 pm on the day of the dinner.

Again, you are welcome to attend the meeting without participating in the dinner, and you are also welcome to eat dinner in the regular section of the restaurant.

2022-2024 Officers:
President: Charlie Seifert
Past President: John Sapanara
Vice President: Paul Stier
Secretary: Melanie Jordan
Treasurer: Jay Oakley
Assistant Treasurer: [Open]
Scribe: Greg Mertz
Media & Events Coordinator: Paul Stier
Newsletter Editor: John Roos
Membership Chair: [Open]
Membership: Charlie Seifert
Scholarship Chair: [Open]
Member at Large: Robin Donato
Member at Large: John Griffiths
Member at Large: Barbara Stafford
Dinner Coordinator: John Sapanara

*Please understand that the restaurant will charge you (not RVCWRT) for your reserved seat(s) regardless of whether or not you attend. This is their policy and not ours, so please take your reservation seriously.

10/19/2026

Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table Meeting on November 9th, 2026

Please join us on Monday, November 9th at Brock's Riverside Grill, our speaker will be Scott Patchan with the presentation of his topic, "1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign". This will be based upon his in-depth and detailed research on this topic. Please review the Outline of what will be presented.

Presentation Summation
Much as been written about the epic campaign between Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early and U.S. Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s fall campaign in the Shenandoah, However, Early waged a brilliant campaign in western Virginia from June 18 when he saved Lynchburg from capture through Sept, 18, the day before his string of disastrous defeats began at Third Wi******er and culminated at Cedar Creek on Oct. 19.

Lost in the midst of that epic and bloody campaign is Early’s summer campaign that contributed mightily to the Confederacy’s survival in 1864. By sending Early with 10,000 men to western Virginia in June, Gen. Robert E. Lee ultimately forced Grant to detach 30,000 fighting men and his most aggressive commander Sheridan from the operations along the Richmond and Petersburg front. . By focusing on military tactics and battle history, Scott C. Patchan uncovers the facts and actions of these little-understood battles and offers a first time perspective on Early’s contributions to the Confederate war effort and the Union battle plans and overall strategy.

Patchan details previously unexplored battles at Rutherford’s Farm and Second Kernstown (a pinnacle of Confederate operations in the Shenandoah Valley). He examines the campaign’s influence on President Lincoln’s reelection efforts and provides insights into the personalities, careers, and roles in Shenandoah of Confederate General John C. Breckinridge, Union General George Crook, and Union Colonel James A. Mulligan, with his “fighting Irish” brigade from Chicago. Finally, Patchan reconsiders the ever-colorful and controversial Early himself, whose importance in the Confederate military pantheon this book at last makes clear.

Biography
Scott C. Patchan was born and raised in Ohio and graduated from James Madison University. He has been researching, writing, and speaking on the Civil War for more than thirty years. He focuses on the 1864 Shenandoah Valley and 1862 Second Manassas campaigns. He has authored several books including George Washington in the French and Indian War (2024); Worthy of a Higher Rank: The 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign Journal of Col. Joseph Thoburn (2021); The Last Battle of Wi******er (2013); Second Manassas: Longstreet’s Attack and the Struggle of Chinn Ridge (2011); Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign (2009); and The Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont, Virginia (1996). He has also written six “General’s Tours” for Blue and Gray Magazine and is currently researching and writing for several ongoing book projects.

Scott has been leading battlefield tours across the east coast for more than thirty years and currently service as President of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Guide Association. He regularly leads tours Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation events and assists in battlefield interpretation. He resides with his wife in Northern Virginia.

Scott will have the following books for sale.
a. The Battle of Piedmont and Hunter's Raid on Staunton: The 1864 Shenandoah Campaign. - $20
b. The Last Battle of Wi******er: Phil Sheridan, Jubal Early, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, August 7–September 19, 1864 - SC $27 / HC $50
c. Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign - $20
b. Second Manassas: Longstreet's Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge - $30
c. George Washington in the French & Indian War (History & Guide) - $25
d. Worthy of a Higher Rank: The 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign Journal of Col. Joseph Thoburn (2021) - $18 SC / $25 HC

Preferred payment for the books will be either Cash or Check.

Times will be as before - social time at 6 PM, dinner at 6:45 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM.

Dinner Meeting Location:
Brock’s Riverside Grill
503 Sophia St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401
(540) 370-1820
https://brocksgrill.com/

We are now able to accommodate non-dinner attendees/spectators.

Please make dinner reservations through John Sapanara via email [email protected] or by phone 540-479-1299. He will contact you with confirmation.

Please reserve a place by the Thursday before the Monday dinner meeting date.

If you wish to be placed on the "permanent reservation" list, please advise John. Members on this list do not need to make reservations every month - their attendance is assumed unless they cancel beforehand.

Member dinner price is $35. This price also applies to non-member attendees who join at the meeting, or to guests invited by members. Non-member dinner price is $40.

10/17/2026

Cedar Mountain Battlefield Foundation Debate Series
Who Was the Better Commander? LtGen James Longstreet versus LtGen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Saturday, November 7 — 5 to 6:30pm
Cedar Run Baptist Church, 21210 Old Orange Road, Culpeper 22701

$15.00; register at techbox.flashpoint.xyz/Lite/Event/Profile/34810001

The Old War Horse versus the Stonewall. James Longstreet and Thomas Jackson were two of the Confederacy’s most successful commanders, but who was better? The Cedar Mountain Battlefield Foundation will inaugurate our first debate series to decide the answer, with historian Greg Mertz representing General Longstreet and historian Frank O’Reilly representing General Jackson. Hear these two historians make their case for their respective commander, and vote on which general you believe to be greater—only one can prevail!

10/14/2026

Civil War Round Table of Fredericksburg
Monthly dinner meeting, Wednesday, October 28, 5:30 to 9:00pm
UMW Jepson Alumni Center, 1119 Hanover Street, Fredericksburg

Program: “General Philip H. Sheridan: Life, War and Memory” by Jonathan A Noyalas, author and historian. Dinner reservations (required): visit www.cwrtf.org or call/text 540-729-0260 or email [email protected], NLT noon, Monday, October 26. Pay $40 at website or cash, check, credit card at the door.

10/12/2026

Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table Meeting on October 12, 2026

Please join us this evening on Monday, October 12th at Brock's Riverside Grill, our speaker will be Judith Jobrack, with the presentation of her topic, “We encampt here on the banks of the Rappahannock. Oh, it is beautiful country.”: Civil War camp life on the old Washington Farm. This will be based upon her in-depth and detailed research on this topic. Please review the Outline of what will be presented.

Presentation Summation
Ferry Farm is most well-known as the Boyhood home of George Washington. While our primary emphasis of interpretation and research has focused on young George and his family’s life on this farm, Ferry Farm has many other stories to tell. The American Civil War had a major impact on the Ferry Farm community, changing both the landscape and the lives of those who lived here. This blog will look at how our archaeological efforts have brought to light artifacts that reflect the experiences of the soldiers that were stationed on the “old Washington Farm.”

The Washington house and its outbuildings gradually fell into disrepair until by the mid-1830s there was no trace of them on the landscape. But the soldiers still knew the significance of the site. In April 1862, the Civil War came full force to Fredericksburg and to Ferry Farm. Federal Forces took over and occupied the City of Fredericksburg behind the retreating Confederate Army. Encampments and gun emplacements were established all along our side of the river and throughout Stafford County as the army set about maintaining control of the city across the river. Engineers were set to the task of rebuilding the railroad bridge and erecting pontoon bridges, including one at the end of Ferry Road.

Biography
Judith Jobrack is a historical archaeologist who serves as the Co-Field Director and Staff Archaeologist for George Washington's Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm.
Judith holds a BA in Anthropology from Bates College and an MA in Historical Archaeology from Boston University. Before her employment at Ferry Farm, her field experience included working in cultural resource management projects in Massachusetts and Virginia and as a founding member of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Archaeology Department.

Following a professional hiatus to raise her family of four boys, she joined the Ferry Farm archaeology department as a volunteer in 2012 before progressing into a part-time role cataloging artifacts from summer excavations. This experience evolved into a full-time position as a laboratory assistant, and in 2019 she was named Co-Field Director of the site's seasonal archaeological digs.
Her primary research focus is the colonial history of Ferry Farm, but the varied history of Ferry Farm’s occupations presents the opportunity to address other topics, such as the Civil War.

Judith will not have any books for sale.

Times will be as before - social time at 6 PM, dinner at 6:45 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM.

We are now able to accommodate non-dinner attendees/spectators.

Please make dinner reservations through John Sapanara via email at [email protected] or by phone 540-479-1299. He will contact you with confirmation.

Please reserve a place by the Thursday before the Monday dinner meeting date.

If you wish to be placed on the "permanent reservation" list, please advise John. Members on this list do not need to make reservations every month - their attendance is assumed unless they cancel beforehand.

Member dinner price is $35. This price also applies to non-member attendees who join at the meeting, or to guests invited by members. Non-member dinner price is $40.

10/11/2026

Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table Meeting on October 12, 2026

Please join us tomorrow evening on Monday, October 12th at Brock's Riverside Grill, our speaker will be Judith Jobrack, with the presentation of her topic, “We encampt here on the banks of the Rappahannock. Oh, it is beautiful country.”: Civil War camp life on the old Washington Farm. This will be based upon her in-depth and detailed research on this topic. Please review the Outline of what will be presented.

Presentation Summation
Ferry Farm is most well-known as the Boyhood home of George Washington. While our primary emphasis of interpretation and research has focused on young George and his family’s life on this farm, Ferry Farm has many other stories to tell. The American Civil War had a major impact on the Ferry Farm community, changing both the landscape and the lives of those who lived here. This blog will look at how our archaeological efforts have brought to light artifacts that reflect the experiences of the soldiers that were stationed on the “old Washington Farm.”

The Washington house and its outbuildings gradually fell into disrepair until by the mid-1830s there was no trace of them on the landscape. But the soldiers still knew the significance of the site. In April 1862, the Civil War came full force to Fredericksburg and to Ferry Farm. Federal Forces took over and occupied the City of Fredericksburg behind the retreating Confederate Army. Encampments and gun emplacements were established all along our side of the river and throughout Stafford County as the army set about maintaining control of the city across the river. Engineers were set to the task of rebuilding the railroad bridge and erecting pontoon bridges, including one at the end of Ferry Road.

Biography
Judith Jobrack is a historical archaeologist who serves as the Co-Field Director and Staff Archaeologist for George Washington's Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm.
Judith holds a BA in Anthropology from Bates College and an MA in Historical Archaeology from Boston University. Before her employment at Ferry Farm, her field experience included working in cultural resource management projects in Massachusetts and Virginia and as a founding member of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Archaeology Department.

Following a professional hiatus to raise her family of four boys, she joined the Ferry Farm archaeology department as a volunteer in 2012 before progressing into a part-time role cataloging artifacts from summer excavations. This experience evolved into a full-time position as a laboratory assistant, and in 2019 she was named Co-Field Director of the site's seasonal archaeological digs.
Her primary research focus is the colonial history of Ferry Farm, but the varied history of Ferry Farm’s occupations presents the opportunity to address other topics, such as the Civil War.

Judith will not have any books for sale.

Times will be as before - social time at 6 PM, dinner at 6:45 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM.

We are now able to accommodate non-dinner attendees/spectators.

Please make dinner reservations through John Sapanara via email at [email protected] or by phone 540-479-1299. He will contact you with confirmation.

Please reserve a place by the Thursday before the Monday dinner meeting date.

If you wish to be placed on the "permanent reservation" list, please advise John. Members on this list do not need to make reservations every month - their attendance is assumed unless they cancel beforehand.

Member dinner price is $35. This price also applies to non-member attendees who join at the meeting, or to guests invited by members. Non-member dinner price is $40.

10/09/2026

Lake of the Woods Civil War Study Group
Friday, October 23 at 10:30am
Lake of the Woods Clubhouse

Local historian Clark “Bud” Hall will discuss newly appointed General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant’s arrival in Culpeper County on March 26, 1864 for a six-week sojourn. His headquarters at the Barbour House in Culpeper Court House (at the Northwest intersection of modern-day Main and Davis Streets) was where he planned what has become known as the Overland Campaign. The Union Army, 102,000 strong, moved to Lee’s right flank crossing the Rapidan River on May 4th, and toward what became the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5 – 7, 1864). The last large action of the battle, Gordon’s Flank Attack, in late afternoon of May 6, 1864, was fought on much of what is now Lake of the Woods.

Bud is the foremost expert on the Civil War in Culpeper County, Virginia, and a passionate battlefield preservationist. His efforts to save the Brandy Station battlefield, the beautiful, rolling fields and woodlots off Route 29, are renowned and culminated in the new Culpeper Battlefields State Park. He is a former Marine, ex-FBI agent, and Congressional investigator, who is co-founder and past board member of the Chantilly Battlefield Association, Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites, and the Brandy Station Foundation. In 2012, he received the Civil War Trust’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition of his then-25 year efforts to protect America’s hallowed ground, and 15 years later is still leading the charge.

The program will be held in the grand ballroom of the LOW Clubhouse, 205 Lakeview Parkway, Locust Grove. Non-LOW-residents use the left lane at the gated community entrance and show your driver’s license to the attendant; allow extra time for this.

10/08/2026

Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table Meeting on October 12, 2026

Please join us on Monday, October 12th at Brock's Riverside Grill, our speaker will be Judith Jobrack, with the presentation of her topic, “We encampt here on the banks of the Rappahannock. Oh, it is beautiful country.”: Civil War camp life on the old Washington Farm. This will be based upon her in-depth and detailed research on this topic. Please review the Outline of what will be presented.

Presentation Summation
Ferry Farm is most well-known as the Boyhood home of George Washington. While our primary emphasis of interpretation and research has focused on young George and his family’s life on this farm, Ferry Farm has many other stories to tell. The American Civil War had a major impact on the Ferry Farm community, changing both the landscape and the lives of those who lived here. This blog will look at how our archaeological efforts have brought to light artifacts that reflect the experiences of the soldiers that were stationed on the “old Washington Farm.”

The Washington house and its outbuildings gradually fell into disrepair until by the mid-1830s there was no trace of them on the landscape. But the soldiers still knew the significance of the site. In April 1862, the Civil War came full force to Fredericksburg and to Ferry Farm. Federal Forces took over and occupied the City of Fredericksburg behind the retreating Confederate Army. Encampments and gun emplacements were established all along our side of the river and throughout Stafford County as the army set about maintaining control of the city across the river. Engineers were set to the task of rebuilding the railroad bridge and erecting pontoon bridges, including one at the end of Ferry Road.

Biography
Judith Jobrack is a historical archaeologist who serves as the Co-Field Director and Staff Archaeologist for George Washington's Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm.
Judith holds a BA in Anthropology from Bates College and an MA in Historical Archaeology from Boston University. Before her employment at Ferry Farm, her field experience included working in cultural resource management projects in Massachusetts and Virginia and as a founding member of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Archaeology Department.

Following a professional hiatus to raise her family of four boys, she joined the Ferry Farm archaeology department as a volunteer in 2012 before progressing into a part-time role cataloging artifacts from summer excavations. This experience evolved into a full-time position as a laboratory assistant, and in 2019 she was named Co-Field Director of the site's seasonal archaeological digs.
Her primary research focus is the colonial history of Ferry Farm, but the varied history of Ferry Farm’s occupations presents the opportunity to address other topics, such as the Civil War.

Judith will not have any books for sale.

Times will be as before - social time at 6 PM, dinner at 6:45 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM.

We are now able to accommodate non-dinner attendees/spectators.

Please make dinner reservations through John Sapanara via email at [email protected] or by phone 540-479-1299. He will contact you with confirmation.

Please reserve a place by the Thursday before the Monday dinner meeting date.

If you wish to be placed on the "permanent reservation" list, please advise John. Members on this list do not need to make reservations every month - their attendance is assumed unless they cancel beforehand.

Member dinner price is $35. This price also applies to non-member attendees who join at the meeting, or to guests invited by members. Non-member dinner price is $40.

Address

503 Sophia Steet
Fredericksburg, VA
22404

Website

https://www.rappvalleycivilwar.org/

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