Eight Civil War Lectures This Weekend!
Announcing a Fantastic Lineup of Eight Lectures This Weekend on Civil War History Topics!
At 7 p.m. Friday, the Director of the National Civil War Naval Museum, Ken Johnston, will give a lecture at the Maritime Museum. $5 includes low country boil on the docks.
At 5 p.m. Sunday, Archaeologist Nancy White will present An Archaeological Mystery of Confederate Forts on the Apalachicola River at 5 p.m. at the Maritime Museum. $5 entry.
Mayor Van Johnson will read the Emancipation Proclamation on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Riverfront Park. He will be accompanied by an African American choir performing period music.
All day on Saturday, there's a free lecture series at the Center for History, Culture, and Art on the corner of Water Street & Ave. E!
10:00 AM Dr. Jon Sheppard - Defense of Florida, 1861-1862
In 1861 following the outbreak of war, Florida politicians expressed their concern to Confederate Secretary of War Leroy Pope Walker, over Florida's coastal defenses, or rather the lack thereof. This talk examines the attempts of the Confederate government to answer the state's demands, and defend two of Florida's important ports, Fernandina and Apalachicola, and the reasons why the defense of these two locations failed. Jonathan Sheppard is a native of Cross City, Florida. He earned his PhD from Florida State University in 2008, and for the past three years has worked as a lecturer in the History Department at FSU. His book, By the Noble Daring of Her Sons: The Florida Brigade of the Army of Tennessee was published by the University of Alabama Press in 2012. It is available at the Maritime Museum. He is currently co-editing a series of essays on Florida during the Civil War, and is also working on a book that will chronicle the Mobile Campaign of 1864-65. Defense of Florida, 1861-1862.
11:00 AM Sean Klimek - Monitor v. Merrimac
The Monitor v. Merrimac lecture addresses the events surrounding the world's first clash of ironclad vessels. On 9 March 1862 at Hampton Roads, Virginia the USS Monitor engaged the CSS Virginia in an attempt to halt the destruction of the Union flotilla in the region by the Confederate ironclad. Circumstances leading up to the clash, along with the battle and results, will be presented. Sean Klimek is an Active Duty Air Force officer being sponsored by the Air Command and Staff College to pursue a PhD in History at Florida State University. Sean is studying under Dr. G. Kurt Piehler, who is the Director of the World War II Institute, and is concentrating in U.S. post-1865 History with an emphasis on War and Society. In the Air Force, Sean is a Senior Navigator with over 1,800 flying hours in the C-130 and T-43 aircrafts. Sean is happily married and has two children.
1:00 PM David Gregory - Skulkers and Deserters of the Gulf Coast
In Florida during the Civil War, Desertion in both Confederate and Union armies became a significant factor, more so to the Southern States than to the Federals. The 1928 book, Desertion during the Civil War, by Ella Lonn, set the standard for this subject. It is only in recent years that new publications on this topic appeared, and these, for the most part, deal with state-level Confederate desertions. This lecture looks at desertion in Florida and goes behind the numbers. Who were these men? What did they do for a living, what were their values, and why did they desert? Mr. Gregory retired in June 2008 as Curator of Education for the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee. He was also Manager of the Historical Museums Grants-in-Aid Program and the Research Historian for the World War II in Florida History Trail publication. He holds a MS in American History from The Florida State University and taught American History at Tallahassee Community College.
3:00 PM Dr. Maurice Melton - Who Owns Moses Dallas?
Slave Moses Dallas was a maritime pilot, guiding steamboats on the Georgia coast. At the beginning of the Civil War he hired on to pilot warships for the Confederate Navy at Savannah, and in 1864 lost his life while guiding a Confederate expedition that captured the Union blockader Water Witch. For many white Southerners he has become a black Confederate hero. But black Savannahians and Civil War historians know that the story is untrue: That Dallas faked his death, escaped, and joined the Union Navy as a freedom fighter. Or did he? Dr. Melton does some detective work. Dr. Melton is associate professor of history at Albany State University in Albany, Ga. He is author of The Confederate Ironclad. His latest book is The Best Station of Them All: The Savannah Squadron, 1861-1865, available at the Maritime Museum.
4:00 PM Dr. Ed Wiser - James Tomb, Confederate Torpedo Boat Skipper
Contrary to popular myth, the American Civil War did not give rise to a host of new ideas about weaponry and explosives. However, it did provide the incentive to merge old ideas with contemporary technology. The result included the first practical repeating rifle, machine guns, submarines, land and sea mines, armored warships, and torpedo boat warfare. The latter was embraced by the Confederacy and its foremost practitioner was a young man from Jacksonville Florida, James Hamilton Tomb. This is his story. Edward H. Wiser is a licensed captain with a PhD in naval history from Florida State University. He has written on riverine warfare and small combatants for US Naval Institute Proceedings, on the Union blockade for North and South magazine, and was a contributor to Craig Symonds' Union Combined Operations in the Civil War. When not on a boat, he pursues his lifelong interest in all things maritime and serves as an adjunct professor of strategy and policy for the Naval War College.
5:00 PM Mark Curenton - First Florida Federal Cavalry
The Florida Panhandle today is the most Southern part of Florida, but during the Civil War West Florida and South Alabama had more ambivalent loyalties. The First Florida Federal Cavalry was a regiment of white men organized at Fort Barrancas near Pensacola during the last year of the Civil War for service in the Union Army. The unit was composed of men from West Florida and South Alabama who had either deserted from the Confederate Army or were evading conscription into the army. Its officers were a mixture of foreigners, Northerners, and former Confederate officers. The regiment participated in the Battle of Marianna and the Mobile Campaign. In later years while Confederate veterans were feted and memorialized across the area the Union veterans who served in the First Florida Cavalry were forgotten. Mark Campbell Curenton is a Florida native and a graduate of University of Florida. He has a master's degree in urban and regional planning and works for the Franklin County Planning Department. He has been a member of the Apalachicola Area Historical Society for the past decade and is a past president of the organization.
Click here to download the detailed schedule of all events for the entire weekend. You can also view the schedule on our web page, or stop by the Maritime Museum for a copy. The Apalachicola Times and Port St. Joe Star will also have the schedule in Thursday's edition. Most of the events are free!
With Special Thanks to our Partners:
USS Fort Henry Living History Unit
The crew of the USS Water Witch
USS Pawnee Marine Guard
Historic Apalachicola Main Street
Apalachicola Center for History, Culture, & Art
The Raney House Museum
Apalachicola Historical Society
The Orman House Museum
Panhandle Players
City of Apalachicola
St. George Island Lighthouse & Museum
Story Teller Robyn Rennick
Musicians Carol Harris of Wombat Sound Music Store & Randy Mims
Apalachicola Maritime Museum Volunteers
United Daughters of the Confederacy Florida Division, R. Don McLeod Chapter 2469, Crawfordville
United Daughters of the Confederacy Florida Division, Ocheesee Chapter 2693, Blountstown
United Daughters of the Confederacy Florida Division, Confederate Salt Works Chapter 2269, Panama City
This event is sponsored in part by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.
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