Clarksville, TN – The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, June 19th 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.
Our speaker this month is Brad Butkovich of Atlanta, GA. His topic is “The Battle of Allatoona Pass”
Atlanta, Georgia, the industrial, food distribution and shipping center of the Confederacy, fell to the Union forces of William T. Sherman on September 2nd, 1864.
John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee fell back first to Lovejoy Station and then moved west to Palmetto, GA so as to be on the railroad from Alabama, part of his new base of supplies.
After reorganizing the army , losing some commanders (notable William J. Hardee) and feting Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Hood soon planned to move north hoping to draw Sherman out from Atlanta and defeat him badly enough to force him to withdraw from Georgia.
It was a forlorn hope at best, but in a campaign of maneuver, moving over many of the same battlegrounds that had been fought over on the way to Atlanta, Hood ruptured the railroad to Chattanooga that supplied Sherman in several places and set his sights on the Union garrison at Allatoona Pass, where warehouses bulged with food, something Hood would badly need as the campaign progressed.
He sent a single division to attack the Federals who were heavily entrenched on two hills above the pass and some of their units were armed with repeating rifles and were supported by artillery. The attack was a defeat for Hood and it would help to exacerbate his food problems for the rest of the campaign.
Was it the last battle of the Atlanta Campaign or the first of Hood’s Tennessee campaign? Come see this month at the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable!
Brad Butkovich has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Georgia Southern University. He has published several books on the American Civil War including studies on the Battle of Pickett’s Mill and Allatoona Pass. He has always had a keen interest in Civil War history, photography and cartography, all of which have come together in his current projects.
See you Wednesday, June 19th, for our monthly meeting.
Lastly, July is our new fiscal year so PLEASE plan on paying your annual dues at this meeting if you have not yet paid your dues for last year! The funds go to paying for our speakers. If you did not pay last month please plan on doing so this month.
Dues can also be sent to:
Greg Biggs
2600 W. Henderson Way
Clarksville, TN 37042
Please make payment to the Clarksville CWRT. Your name badge will be available only if you have paid your dues.
Also, please support your CWRT by buying the books being offered for sale each month. The funds go to our treasury for our speakers and help us to donate to battlefield causes. They are priced well below their retail prices and there’s a great selection!
