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HomeEventsClarksville Civil War Roundtable's next meeting is December 21st, 2016

Clarksville Civil War Roundtable’s next meeting is December 21st, 2016

The 152nd Meeting

Clarksville Civil War RoundtableClarksville, TN – The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, December 21st, 2016 at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Tennova Healthcare. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes east of Governor’s Square mall.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

Topic: “General William T. Sherman”

General William T. Sherman
General William T. Sherman

William T. Sherman. The very name conjures up discussion, pro and con, even today. To the Union he was the man who took Atlanta thus ensuring President Lincoln’s second term in 1864 and through that victory.

He was also the man who marched to the sea, in his own words, “to make Georgia howl.” He accepted the surrender of the last major Confederate army in North Carolina some two weeks after Appomattox in late April, 1865.

Nervous, irritable and needing little sleep, Sherman became the war’s master of logistics. Before the war, this West Point graduate and soon to be close friend of U.S. Grant, a fellow Buckeye, Sherman was president of what would become Louisiana State University. Sherman’s pre-war career included business and banking.

Post-war, Sherman commanded the U.S. Army and added finishing schools for officer training when in 1881 what would become the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College was opened at Fort Leavenworth.

He was also nearly killed while negotiating with Indians out west. Sherman retired from military service in 1884 (he was even Secretary of War briefly) and died in New York City in 1891. He is buried in St. Louis. His memoirs are considered some of the best written by an American officer.

This month as we have Sherman’s latest biographer, noted historian James McDonough, coming to speak to us about him. Dr. McDonough is a native of Nashville, and earned his Ph.D. in history from Florida State University.  He has been a Professor of History at Lipscomb, Pepperdine, and Auburn Universities.

A noted author of 11 books and numerous articles and book reviews, three of his books have won awards; four have been History Book selections.

His Sherman biography made the New York Times best seller list in July. Dr. McDonough’s books include works on the battles of Franklin, Nashville, Stones River, Chattanooga, Shiloh, the Atlanta Campaign and the war in Kentucky. Dr. McDonough’s books are some of the earliest to touch on the War in the West and set the tone for others to follow his work finally putting the spotlight on the Civil War’s most important theater.

Dr. McDonough will have copies of his Sherman biography and his book on the Battle of Nashville for sale at the meeting.

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