Loudoun County Civil War Roundtable

05/08/2026

May Assembly—The Battle of Front Royal!

As a reminder the Loudoun County Civil War Roundtable will be meeting on Tuesday, May 12th at the Thomas Balch Library. Meeting starts at 6:30

Our speaker for the evening is Jerry Holsworth and he will be talking on the Battle of Front Royal.

He has several books (VA Regimental series by H. E. Howard) he would like to sell ($50 each) so get email Jim ([email protected]) if you are interested in any of them. The books he has for sale are
8, 11, 14, 18, 25, 35, 36/37,43 Cavalry Units
2 and 58th Infantry
Purcell, Crenshaw and Letcher Artillery

Hope to see you on Tuesday!!

03/19/2026

Get ready to bloom into action! Join us in helping the Friends of Ball's Bluff clear away invasive species and give our historic grounds a fresh new start this spring!

02/24/2026

March Meeting! General James Lane, Hero of Spotsylvania!

Winter is over and our first meeting of 2026 will be on March 10th. To keep costs down we will be meeting at Loudoun Rescue on 143 Catoctin Circle Leesburg VA 20175.

We are also looking at holding some of the meetings at Rust Library in Leesburg. Meeting starts at 6:30PM and we don't have to rush to be out by 8PM and we can have refreshments.

As this is our first meeting of the year after our speaker, we will need to have a corporate meeting to elect officers. If you have an interest in being on the board, please email/notify Jim!

As always bring a friend to meeting that has an interest in joining our organization. Dues are $30 (single or family)

Our speaker for the evening is Janet McCabe and her talk is titled "Gen. Lane the Unsung Hero of Spotsylvania".

Janet McCabe’s fascination with Civil War history began when her father took her to visit several battlefields during the summer she was eight years old. When she returned to school that fall and the teacher asked the students to draw pictures of what they did that summer, Janet drew a picture of the Stonewall Jackson wounding monument at Chancellorsville. Apparently, that was the thing that impressed her the most that summer! She chose to pursue a career in finance, earning a BS in Economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College, but kept her love of history alive via battlefield visits, volunteering and research until in 2025 she earned the badge to become a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg.

Talk synopsis: James Henry Lane is not well-known among students of the Civil War, despite the fact that he was one of the longest-serving field officers in the Confederate army, from the very first fight at Big Bethel in June 1861 to the surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. He fought in every major battle in the Eastern theater and was wounded three times. At Gettysburg, he led his brigade in Pickett’s Charge, where his North Carolinians claimed to have advanced farther than any other unit in that attack. Of North Carolina’s claim that its soldiers had been “First at Bethel, Farthest to the Front at Gettysburg & Chickamauga, Last at Appomattox”, Lane could claim participation in all of it save Chickamauga. His finest hour may have been on May 12, 1864, at Spotsylvania Courthouse, where his brigade stopped the initial Union breakthrough at the Muleshoe and thwarted another Union attack later in the day.

02/06/2026

Speaker Schedule for 2026!

Hi everyone! Below is our upcoming speaker schedule for this year! We have some fantastic speakers for you again this year.

As usual, we will meet at 6:30 pm on the second Tuesday of the month, from March through December.

What’s not usual is our meeting location— for our March meeting, we’ll assemble at Loudoun Rescue (143 Catoctin Circle, Leesburg, VA 20175). Other meetings locations are TBD and will be announced soon.

March 10 - Janet McCabe "General Lane the Unsung Hero of Spotsylvania"

April 14 - Gary Dyson "The Rebels of Frederick County"

May 12 - Jerry Holsworth "Battle of Front Royal"

June 9 - Jared Peatman "A Hell of a Regiment: To Gettysburg and Beyond with the 20th Maine

July 14 - Jeffrey Joyce "Crossroads of Conflict: Civil War Culpepper and the Culpepper National Cemetery"

August 11 - Gene Schmiel "Searching for Irvin McDowell: The Civil Wars Forgotten General"

September 8 - "Rich Condon "The Year of Jubilee - Military Encampment in the Department of the South"

October 13 - Gary Gimbell "Major Robert Swann: Jeb Stuart's Fallen Cavalier"

November 10 - Robert Dunkerly "Antietam the Final Phase"

December 8 - Edward Haggerty "Soldier of the South: Lt. Gen Richard Heron Anderson"

Which speaker are you most looking forward to?

01/19/2026

Riverside Dinner Theater in Stafford is looking for some Union soldier uniforms to use in their upcoming production of ‘Little Women’.

If you’d like to help out, please contact Sara Clark at [email protected] or call her at (540) 935-9142!

12/15/2025

Battle of Dranesville Observation!

Hi all, the anniversary of the local Battle of Dranesville is coming soon, and the Dranesville Church of the Brethren is holding an observation of the battle. You may recall Ryan Quint speaking about this battle during a meeting a year or so ago. Information is below:

The Battle of Dranesville in 1861 pitted Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart's 2,500 troops against 5,000 troops commanded by Union general Edward O. C. Ord. The battle took place near the intersection of Route 7 and the Georgetown Pike and was the first Union victory in the East.

The Dranesville Church of the Brethren stands almost exactly where General Ord placed his cannons. The Brethren, a 350-year-old denomination, emphasizes Christian discipleship, simple living -- and pacifism.

On Sunday, Dec. 21, the Dranesville Church of the Brethren will hold a peace service to remember the human cost of war and to pray for peace in a violent world. The service includes an account of the battle, fought just five days before Christmas, as well as the names of all the man who died there. The service will start at 7:00 P.M. in the sanctuary. Small exhibits on the battle will be open after the service. All are welcome.

Contact: Church office, 703-430-7872
John Waggoner, 703-216-7036

12/11/2025

Many thanks to Brad Gottfried for his excellent presentation and discussion on Point Lookout Prison Camp!

This wraps up our 2025 year and we’ll reconvene in March—thank you to all our of speakers from this year!

12/06/2025

December Speakera and Meeting !

Our last meeting of this year will be held on December 9th at the Thomas Balch Library. Meeting starts at 6:30PM.

Our guest speakers will be Brad and Linda Gottfried and their talk is titled "Hell comes to Southern Maryland, The Point Lookout Civil War Prisoner of War Camp.",

We are looking forward to meeting one of the premier authors of the American Civil War. Hopefully you will too.

As always bring someone with you who loves the Civil War and would be interested in joining our organization.

Below is the bio of authors and a brief description of their talk.

Hell Comes to Southern Maryland; The Point Lookout Civil War Prisoner of War Camp: Prisoner of war camps sprung up in the North and South in mid-1863 when the cartel governing the paroling and exchanging of prisoners ended. The Point Lookout Civil War prisoner of war camp in Southern Maryland became the largest facility for Confederates in the North. A total of 50,000 men (not at all one time) were incarcerated in the two pens that totaled 30 acres. In this presentation, Dr. Brad Gottfried will explain how and why the camp was formed, life and death in the camp, and what it was like to be a prisoner of war there.

Brad & Linda Gottfried
Brad Gottfried earned a Ph.D. in Zoology and served as a college educator for over 40 years, rising to the presidency of two colleges before he retired in 2017. He has written 23 books on the Civil War. Brad is a Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide and an Antietam Licensed Battlefield Guide.
Linda Gottfried earned a BFA and served as a graphic designer and development officer at several colleges and nonprofit organizations before retiring in 2015. She now spends her time as sculptor and enjoying retirement. Several of her pieces have won awards. The Gottfried's have five children and seven grandchildren and they live in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.
Brad and Linda have collaborated on four projects: Hell Comes to Southern Maryland (published by Turning Point Publications), Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg: The Creation of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (published by the Emerging Civil War), and The Antietam Paintings of James B. Hope (published by Turning Point Publications). Their most recent collaboration is Race to the Potomac: Meade and Lee After Gettysburg (published by the Emerging Civil War).

11/12/2025

Many thanks to Jared Peatman for his terrific talk tonight on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and it’s lasting impact!

11/07/2025

November Meeting! The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Tuesday, 11 November 2025 at 630pm.

***VENUE CHANGE*** Because of the Veteran's Day holiday, we're moving our meeting to the Loudoun Rescue Center, at 143 Catoctin Circle SE Leesburg VA 20175. This change in for November only! (And a salute to all our veterans--thank you for your service!)

Our speaker this month is Jared Peatman and his topic will be: The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Come join us for what promises to be a fascinating topic!

In this talk based on his book "The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address," Jared Peatman seeks to reveal not only Lincoln’s intentions at Gettysburg but also how his words were received, invoked, and interpreted over time. After reviewing the events leading up to November 19, 1863, he will discuss immediate responses to the ceremony in New York, Gettysburg itself, Confederate Richmond, and London, showing how parochial concerns and political affiliations shaped initial coverage of the day and led to the censoring of Lincoln’s words in some locales. He then traces how, over time, proponents of certain ideals invoked the particular parts of the address that suited their message, from reunification early in the twentieth century to American democracy and patriotism during the world wars and, finally, to Lincoln’s full intended message of equality during the Civil War centennial commemorations and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

A graduate of Gettysburg College with a master’s degree from Virginia Tech and Ph.D. from Texas A&M, Jared Peatman is the author of The Long Shadow of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. For that project he was named the Organization of American Historians and Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Doctoral Fellow and in 2012 received the Hay-Nicolay Dissertation Prize for the best work on Abraham Lincoln or the Civil War. His second book, A Hell of a Regiment: To Gettysburg and Beyond with the Twentieth Maine, will be published by Stackpole Books in the spring of 2026.In his day job, Jared provides training events that use history as a metaphor to examine current leadership and performance challenges. He is the founder and president of Four Score Consulting and a senior fellow at the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. You can read more about his programs at

Offering history-themed leadership development programs.

10/11/2025

October Meeting! The Battle of Bristoe Station!

On Tuesday October 14th the Loudoun County Civil War Roundtable will be holding their monthly meeting at the Thomas Balch Library staring at 6:30PM. Our guest speaker is Bill Backus and he will be talking on the Battle of Bristoe Station.

The months after the Battle of Gettysburg were anything but quiet. Nonetheless, Union commander Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade had yet to encounter his Confederate counterpart, Gen. Robert E. Lee, in combat. Lee's army, severely bloodied at Gettysburg, did not have the offensive capability it once possessed. Yet Lee's aggressive nature could not be quelled, and he looked for the chance to strike out at Meade. In mid-October 1863, both men shifted their armies into motion, each surprising the other. Quickly, Meade found himself racing northward for safety along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, with Lee charging up the rail line behind him. Last stop: Bristoe Station, Virginia.

Bill Backus Bio

A native of Connecticut, Bill Backus graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a bachelor’s degree in Historic Preservation. Bill has worked for the National Park Service at Vicksburg National Military Park and Petersburg National Battlefield and now continues his public service as the Preservationist for the Prince William County Office of Historic Preservation. Bill currently resides in Northern Virginia, with his wife, Paige, and their son Julius.

Also, on October 25 the Friends of Balls Bluff will be holding the 164th Anniversary of the Battle of Balls Bluff.

Schedule for the event is
11AM Guide Tour
1 PM GMU Green Machine Regimental Band
2 PM Cannon Firing Demonstrating
3 PM Planting of American Chestnut Tree
7PM or around Sunset Lighting of the Luminara and Cemetery Ceremony

See you on Tuesday!