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HomeEventsThe Clarksville Civil War Roundtable's next meeting is October 19th

The Clarksville Civil War Roundtable’s next meeting is October 19th

The 91st Meeting

Clarksville Civil War Roundtable

Clarksville, TN – The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 in our new home at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Gateway Hospital.  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.

This meeting’s topic is “Kirby Smith’s Invasion of Kentucky and the Battle of Richmond”

In late August 1862, the Confederate forces in Tennessee under General Edmund Kirby Smith, along with the Army of the Mississippi under General Braxton Bragg, began an invasion of Kentucky.  A third column under General Humphrey Marshall, moved from Virginia into Kentucky. The plan was to recover most of Middle Tennessee and eastern Tennessee and force the Union armies back to defend the Ohio River line.  Kirby Smith and Bragg, although trying to coordinate their separate movements, operated in an uncoordinated manner. 

Neither officer was placed in authority over the other.

General Edmund Kirby Smith
General Edmund Kirby Smith

Smith drew first blood south of Richmond, Kentucky on August 29th, 1862 but the battle at Richmond, fought on the next day, proved critical to Confederate hopes.  Smith’s Army of Kentucky, reinforced by two brigades from Bragg’s army (Preston Smith’s and Patrick Cleburne’s) attacked the Union army under General William “Bull” Nelson and after a time shattered their lines in coordinated assaults.  The pursuit and battle virtually annihilated the Union army on the field – the only Civil War battle where a defeated army suffered such damage. The road to Cincinnati was wide open!  And yet the engagement remains almost unknown even to students of the war in the West.

This month’s speaker is Phil Seyfrit, Historic Properties Director of Madison County, Kentucky and site manager of the Richmond Battlefield.  He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and the Mid-America College of Funeral Service.  After working in the funeral industry, Phil changed direction and took charge of the historic sites of the county where he resides today. He has been widely published on the Battle of Richmond in various periodicals and has been appointed to the Kentucky State Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. 

Mr. Seyfrit also reenacts and tours and helps to preserve Civil War sites across the country.

Please join us for this program about a very overlooked part of the Kentucky Campaign of 1862.

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