Last week I spoke to 40 members and guests of the Western Pennsylvania Civil War Roundtable at the Quaker Valley Elementary School in Osborn, PA. Sorry, I forgot to take my usual selfie with the group. It happens sometimes. This group was the first to which I ever presented, 16 years ago!
The program is a new one that I put together at the request of President Dave Fisher, Atrocities at First Bull Run. If you’re a regular reader, you’re aware of plenty of posts tagged with “Atrocities.” At first, I thought I would just assemble a few accounts by category of “atrocity,” but decided instead to focus on the testimonies of witnesses before the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War’s hearings on “Rebel Barbarities.” You can find those testimonies here, toward the bottom of the page. Chasing down the details of the witnesses and individuals mentioned in their testimonies was productive and helped flesh things out, so I had plenty of material of the 50 minute show. This was the “shake-down cruise” for this program, and I think it will get better the more often I present it (so, if you think this would be of interest your group, you know where to find me). Also, I think this topic merits a “part two.” Maybe an essay or article as well.
Thanks to Dave, founder Gary Augustine, techie Scott Krebs, and the membership for having me, and for the apres parler Eat ‘n Park ice cream.
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