Symposium countdown

The Rocky Mountain Civil War symposium is about 5 weeks away. Down to crunch time. Right now we've got most things done and are just waiting for some time to tick by before we start other projects. That last week will be nuts but right now we have time to tie up final projects and don't really have to run around like a headless chicken.

I've been especially happy this week to learn that we are on track to spend less than we did last year. This is amazing news because this year we're paying for 5 flights instead of 4, paying for 10 nights of hotel rooms (5 speakers for two nights each) and we ordered many more books (182 this time compared to 135 the first time). We also added a Friday night event. If we end up with the same number of attendees and the same amount of book sales we will make a profit. And if everything is up from last year we stand to make a significant profit that will help fund future symposiums and donations to the Civil War Preservation Trust.

I've mentioned many time before our speakers and the books they have done. This time I thought I'd provide a little more commentary on the books.

Bradley Gottfried:

Books by Gottfried include:
The Artillery of Gettysburg
Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg
The Maps of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Campaign June 3 – July 13
The Maps of First Bull Run
Roads to Gettysburg: Lee's Invasion of the North, 1863
Kearny's Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade in the Civil War
Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade
The Battle of Gettysburg: A Guided Tour with Edward J. Stackpole, and Wilbur Sturtevant Nye.

As you can see I own the first four books on that list. There will be copies of those books for sale at the event, as well as Kearny's Own. I briefly looked through Kearny's Own when it shipped in and it looks good. The Maps books series is fantastic and I will buy the next volume without question. I think the Brigades book is a must have for study as well as it is essentially an encyclopedia by brigade, with a ton of nice maps. I recently picked up the Artillery book and have not read it yet but I heard that it was a fantastic resource.

Tim Smith:

Smith’s books are:

The Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation: The Decade of the 1890's and the Establishment of America's First Five Military Parks

This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park

The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield

Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg

The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged by D. W. Reed

I also own Champion Hill but my copy is in my other library so I did not have it for a picture last night. The only one I don't own is Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation. Smith also has a book coming out very soon on the history of the Chickamauga-Chattanooga park. We might have it in time for the symposium, or we might just miss the release. If its there I'll probably buy that one as Chickamauga-Chattanooga is my favorite campaign to study next to Shiloh. I'm a big fan of Smith's work, his Shiloh books are great and I really enjoyed his Champion Hill book. I cannot imagine being interested in Shiloh and not having any of these books in your library, it just seems impossible.

Lance Herdegen:

Books by Herdegen are:

The Men Stood Like Iron: How the Iron Brigade Won Its Name

Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journal of William Ray, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers with Sherry Murphy

In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg with William J.K. Beaudot

"Those Damned Black Hats!" The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign

An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan, Sixth Wisconsin

I'm only missing one of Herdegen's books, his new volume on the Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign. I intend to get my copy at the symposium. I'm a big Iron Brigade fan and have quite a few books on the brigade. The only reason I don't have his new book yet is because I knew he was coming to the symposium and I could get it then, plus it would help the roundtable's bottom line.

Russel Beatie:

Amazingly I don't have any books by Beatie. My focus has been on the Western theater so I have not picked up his multi volume history of the Army of the Potomac. But I know that the first volumes will be for sale at a great price at the symposium, so I might just end up starting the series.

Books by Beatie include:
The Army of the Potomac: Birth of Command, November 1860-September 1861
Army of the Potomac, Volume II: McClellan Takes Command, September 1861-February 1862
Army of the Potomac: McClellan's First Campaign, March - May 1862

Stephen Recker:

I also don't have anything by Recker, but in this case it is because he has not produced books but rather CDs. There will be copies of Recker’s Virtual Gettysburg ($99), Antietam Artifacts - Postcards of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 ($19.95) and The Tipton Collection of Gettysburg Images ($19.95) available for sale at the symposium. I might have to get the postcard or Tipton CDs. I know there will be a computer there to show some of the images so I'll be able to figure out if I need both or not.

The Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable will hold its annual symposium on October 2-3, 2009 at the Community College of Aurora, Colorado. The theme is “Lee invades the North,” covering the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.

Speaking at the main event on Saturday, October 3rd, will be Russel Beatie, Stephen Recker, Bradley Gottfried, Lance Herdegen and Timothy B. Smith. After the individual presentations there will be a panel discussion, followed by an author-signing event. The exhibit hall will have many of the presenters’ books for sale as well as Trailhead Graphics maps and an information booth from the Civil War Preservation Trust.

There will also be a Friday night, October 2nd, social event. This extra event will be limited to about 25 people to keep the atmosphere casual and intimate.

Tickets for Saturday only are $50, while tickets for both events are $57.

To order tickets, please visit www.RockyMtnCivilWarRT.com/OrderTickets.htm. You can also reach the Round Table for tickets at 303-249-4336.