ZOOM on May 20th!

This is just a quick update to remind everyone that we will meet via ZOOM for our meeting on May 20. Peggy Watson (thanks, Peggy!) has organized the meeting and will be running it. Mark Lender will be speaking on the Conway Cabal. We will only have the presentation by Mark--no raffle, business portion, etc.

Based on what Peggy knows and predicts, we won't be able to meet on campus in July, either. Peggy is ready to support a July Zoom session, also, assuming that May goes well. We'll deal with that later.

On the preservation partner, I would propose that we suspend the nomination and voting for 2020.  I think that it would just be too confusing and difficult to arrange and allow people to learn about any nominees, etc.  Plus, with a likely smaller 2020 membership, our gift would probably be smaller.

Background for the May meeting:

• The link to the ZOOM conference will be included in Bill's May mailing, probably around May 15.
• The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. It would be good for attendees to log-in up to 20 minutes before to ensure that their equipment is working.
• Attendees will be placed in a waiting room then admitted one by one.
• All will be muted on admittance but will be able to unmute as soon as they're in.
• Everyone will be muted when the lecture begins, but people can be unmuted to ask questions.
• When the lecture is finished and questions have been answered, the meeting will end.

Here is a link to a PDF Factsheet for the use of ZOOM:

 https://richmond.box.com/s/lf0pmryfpntiaj8ewiyaizs2oojvhjfa

See everyone on May 20!

Arnold Marker

Bert Dunkerly reports that the City of Richmond has approved acceptance of the Arnold's Raid on Richmond historical marker.  Bert and city officials are now in the design development and approval phase.  Bert is also progressing with the needed fund raising from other groups to join our $300 donation.  He's optimistic!

--Bill Welsch

Next Meeting: May 20, 2020... via ZOOM!

We hope that all are safe and well.  Obviously, the current times have required many cancellations and changes to group meetings such as ours.  First, our thanks to both Jim Christ and Ryan Cole, our March and May speakers, for their understanding of this situation.  Bruce is working to reschedule both of these gentlemen for either later this year or for 2021.

Our May meeting will take a different format utilizing Zoom, rather than an in-person gathering.  Thanks to Peggy Watson, we will be utilizing the Osher network to present our own Mark Lender speaking about the Conway Cabal.  This is the subject of Mark's newest book Cabal! The Plot Against General Washington.  https://smile.amazon.com/Cabal-Plot-Against-General-Washington/dp/159416326X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1586534372&sr=1-1
I highly recommend Cabal to you.  Thanks very much to Mark for filling the breech.

We will provide sign-in details in next month's newsletter, prior to the meeting.

We do realize that all members might not be able to view the program, but also feel that this approach is better than entirely missing another meeting.

Mark's lecture will be Zoomed on WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 BEGINNING AT 6:30.  We won't worry about the other parts of the meeting.  Hopefully, by July 15, things will be back to normal.

(Thanks to Bill Welsch for the above.)

Genealogy Research Article

Maria Jones, from DNA Testing Guides, was doing some research and stumbled across our post from July 2012 from Brent Morgan. She suggested that the following article, "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Genealogy" might be of interest to our members. Thank you, Maria!

Click here for the article. 

Meeting Notes: January 15, 2020

Pre-Guest Speaker Notes:
ARRT-R’s next meeting is scheduled for 3/18/20 at Heilman Dining Center at the University of Richmond – dinner service begins at 5:30 p.m. – the speaking program begins at 6:30 p.m. NOTE: This meeting has been canceled!

ARRT-R’s featured speaker on 3/18/20 will be Jim Christ, President of the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Fund.  Jim is also Vice President of the Philadelphia ARRT and active in the Congress of ARRTs.  He will speak on the Battle of Paoli.

Guest Speaker – Christian McBurney – “George Washington’s Nemesis: The Outrageous Treason and Unfair Court Martial of Major General Charles Lee during the American Revolution”
 
Mr. McBurney has written five books on the American Revolutionary War, including Kidnapping the Enemy: The Special Operations to Capture Generals Charles Lee & Richard Prescott.  He is a member of the George Washington ARRT and works as an attorney in Washington, D.C.

According to the author, absolute objectivity is required to fully understand General Lee.  His book combines the stories of Lee’s capture and imprisonment followed by his conduct at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse.

General Lee, second in command of the Continental Army, was captured by the British Army. While in British custody, General Lee prepared and submitted to his captor’s a military plan on how to defeat Washington’s army.   During his 16 months of captivity Lee continued to communicate with British officers his willingness to help negotiate an end to the rebellion. This act of treason was not discovered until well after Lee’s death.  McBurney’s opinion is that Lee’s conduct during his captivity was clearly treasonous.

After Lee rejoined the Continental Army he served as Washington’s second-in-command at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse.  Prior to the battle, Lee was given many of the Continental Army’s best troops and was tasked with attacking the rear of the British column as it moved east through New Jersey.

Once action began on June 28th, 1778 two of Lee’s subordinates began moving their troops off the field.  According to McBurney, Lee faced with possible destruction of the rest of his force ordered a retreat while conducting a delaying action.  Once Washington arrived on the battlefield the narrative became that Lee’s force was routed and that only the skill and will of Washington prevented a disaster.

Because of his tactless and relentless efforts to defend his actions in the days after the battle, Washington had him arrested and court-martialed on charges of disobeying orders, conducting an “unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat” and disrespect towards the commander-in-chief.  During the court-martial Lee attempted to turn the proceedings into a contest between himself and Washington.  Lee was found guilty on all counts.  McBurney’s opinion is that Lee’s court-martial conviction was unjust and was the result of Lee’s insulting of Washington.

--Noah Rogers

March 18, 2020 Meeting Canceled

As most of you have heard by now, the University of Richmond has closed their campus as a precautionary measure due to the Coronavirus. Therefore, our next meeting, scheduled for March 18, has been canceled.

We will consider rescheduling this meeting for a later date, if feasible.

The 1777 Philadelphia Campaign: April 30-May 2, 2020

This year, Chambersburg Civil War Tours is exploring one of the most important campaigns of the American Revolution, including the Battle of Brandywine. The trip will be led by Michael Harris with historian Eric Wittenberg.

The tour is April 30 - May 2, 2020 based in King of Prussia, PA. Please click here to view the itinerary.

If any of your Round Table members are interested in attending the trip, we will extend the Early Bird Discount of $30 Off to the Package Pricing. In addition, if three or more of your members sign up for the tour, we will offer a 10% discount on each of the registrations. 

Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours was founded by the Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce and is a nonprofit organization. To date, we have raised more than $220,000 has been donated to nonprofit organizations that support the interpretation and preservation of our American military heritage. For questions, please call Lark Kennedy at 717-264-7101 or email lkennedy@chambersburg.org.