Our 124th meeting.
Clarksville, TN – The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, July 16th, 2014 at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Gateway Medical Center. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes east of Governor’s Square mall.
The meeting begins at 7:00pm and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.
Topic: “Canada and the Civil War”
Much is known about how Britain was outraged when one of her steamships was stopped by a U.S. Navy vessel carrying two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell. Britain dispatched troops to the Dominion of Canada but cooler heads prevailed.
The United State could not fight the Confederates and Great Britain at the same time. Somewhat less known was the activities of the Confederate Secret Service that operated out of Canada. This is about the extent of Canada’s involvement in the American Civil War that most people have heard of. But there was much more.
This month’s special speaker, Conrad Laplante, president of the Ottawa Civil War Roundtable, will bring to our meeting this month an in depth look on how Canada was affected by our Civil War, American-Canadian relations and how the Civil War actually caused Canada. The war was indeed a shared experience.
That being said, there is much that is little known about the Canadian involvement in that amazing conflict. Just look at the index of any of the major works on the Civil War and search for Canada or Canadians and you will find little mention. This program will correct that error. Many of the facts and figures that will be presented will come as quite a surprise.
Without giving away too much, there were thousands of Canadians who participated. The blood of Canadians is in the ground of just about every battlefield of the Civil War. We have some heroes, villains, and untold numbers of ordinary soldiers, some of whom achieved remarkable things. All of these stories will be part of the program.
Conrad Laplante was born and raised in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. After a full career with the military (retired as chief warrant officer, Militia) and government civil service, he now devotes his time to studying American-Canadian relations. Conrad graduated from the University of Ottawa with a BA (Honours) History degree, and is the current president of the Ottawa Civil War Round Table. He is the author of a local history book, At Your Target In Front, Fire!, The Story of Connaught Range.
Please join us for what promises to be a very unique and interesting program and welcome our guest from our great neighbor.
