26th Annual Appomattox Court House NHP and Longwood University Free Civil War Seminar
February 1, 2025
Location: Jarman Auditorium, Longwood University, Farmville, VA
Join the National Park Service and Longwood University at the annual free Civil War Seminar on Saturday, February 1, 2025, located in the Jarman Auditorium at Longwood University, Farmville, VA. Noted scholars will present a series of thematically related programs upon "Act 5: The Final Curtain."
This seminar is free and open to the public. No reservations needed. Parking is available on Longwood University campus. Lunch is available at the Longwood University Dining Hall.
Program schedule:
8:30 AM- Doors open
9:00 AM- Introduction by Dr. David Coles
9:10 AM- Richmond Must Fall: The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign October 1864
Presenter: Hampton Newsome
This presentation discusses the October 1864 battles between Grant and Lee in Virginia, as well as some broader aspects of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign. Among other things, he will examine the Confederate attacks along the Darbytown Road on October 7 outside Richmond, one of Lee’s last offensive operations as well as Grant’s major offensive on October 27 to seize the South Side Railroad, the last open rail line into the Confederate stronghold at Petersburg.
10:15 AM- Richmond Again Taken: New Frontiers of Digital Imagery
Presenter: Michael D. Gorman
In 1865, Richmond was swarmed with photographers hoping to capture images of the captured Confederate capital. These images were widely reproduced, but little understood until digitization made it possible to use them as the historical documents that they are. This program pulls back the curtain on a new frontier of Civil War research, using the photographs of Richmond as a microcosm and a manifesto for further research. Expect to see things unseen until now, and even breathe life back into the past using some of the first moving images of war.
11:30 AM- The Unvanquished: Jesse Scouts in the Appomattox Campaign
Presenter: Patrick K. O’Donnell
This talk reveals a vital shadow war that raged amid and away from the major battlefields that in many ways proved consequential to the conflict’s outcome. From their conception in mid-1863 to Appomattox, these Jesse Scouts engaged in dozens of raids and spy missions, often perilously wearing the uniform of the opposing army, risking the penalty of death if captured. These scouts operated behind enemy lines where they attacked critical supply lines and killed or captured high value targets. During the Appomattox Campaign these scouts played a part in securing the Federal Army a final victory. Their missions and incidents of the Appomattox Campaign will be brought to light.
12:30 PM- Lunch
Lunch is available for purchase at the Longwood University Dining Hall
1:45 PM- Last Stand of the Savannah Volunteer Guards at Sailor’s Creek
Presenter: Joshua Lindamood
Amid the sharp and brutal fighting on April 6, 1865, the Savannah Volunteer Guards (18th Georgia) were in the thick of it. Ultimately, the Guards defended a position in the middle of the Confederate line on the slope across Sailor’s Creek from the Hillsman House. As the fighting swirled around them in all directions, the 121st New York Infantry flanked the Guards, and a viscous melee ensued. Finally, compelled to yield, the Guards sustained 82% casualties. Hear what Major William Starr Basinger wrote about his experiences and their near decimation at Sailor’s Creek, as well as accounts of other Guards.
2:45 PM- To the Bitter End: The Surrenders After Appomattox
Presenter: Bert Dunkerly
Appomattox is famous as the surrender of Lee to Grant, but there were three other major surrenders, and several smaller ones. How did the war finally end, and why does the memory of Appomattox overshadow the others? Park Ranger Bert Dunkerly will discuss all of the surrenders and how the war wound down.
Schedule is subject to change. Directional signs will be posted on the Longwood University Campus. For directions to the campus go to www.longwood.edu. For more information contact Dr. David Coles at 434-395-2220 or Patrick Schroeder at 434-352-8987, Ext. 232.
This annual seminar is sponsored by: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park; The Department of History, Political Science, & Philosophy, and the Center for Southside Virginia History at Longwood University; and Eastern National Bookstores.
Speakers:
Robert M. Dunkerly
Robert M. (Bert) Dunkerly is a historian, award-winning author, and speaker who is actively involved in historic preservation and research. He holds a degree in History from St. Vincent College and a Masters in Historic Preservation from Middle Tennessee State University. He has worked at fourteen historic sites, written over a dozen books, and numerous scholarly articles. He is a past President of the Richmond Civil War Round Table, and serves on the Preservation Commission for the American Revolution Round Table-Richmond. He has taught courses at Central Virginia Community College, the University of Richmond, and the Virginia Historical Society. Dunkerly is currently a Park Ranger at Richmond National Battlefield Park. He has visited over 500 battlefields and over 1000 historic sites worldwide. He enjoys exploring local bookstores, battlefields, and breweries, not necessarily in that order.
Michael D. Gorman
Michael D. Gorman has been working for the National Park Service for over 25 years, and is now the Historian for the Richmond National Battlefield Park. He is best known as the creator of “Civil War Richmond” (www.civilwarrichmond.com), a web-based “file cabinet” of primary sources regarding the life and times of the Confederate Capital. In 2011, he served as an historical advisor on the set of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” and in 2016 on the film “Free State of Jones.” His research on Lincoln’s visit to Richmond was published in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography in 2015, and he continues to work on a book about 19th Century Photography in Richmond.
Joshua Lindamood
Joshua Lindamood is a historian that works at both Sailor’s Creek and Staunton River Battlefield Historical State Parks. He previously held positions at the American Civil War Museum and Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Joshua is a founding member and President of the Appomattox-Petersburg Preservation Society, an organization of passionate individuals dedicated to preserving Southside Virginia’s sacred landmarks and battlefields of the American Civil War and educating its local communities about the significant role this region played during the conflict.
Hampton Newsome
Hampton Newsome lives in Charlottesville and is author of several books on the Civil War including, Richmond Must Fall: The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, October 1864, which was recognized as a best book of the year by the Civil War Monitor magazine; and The Fight for the Old North State: The Civil War in North Carolina, January-May 1864, received the Emerging Civil War Book Award and the Richard Barksdale Harwell Award from the Atlanta Roundtable. His most recent title is Gettysburg’s Southern Front: Opportunity and Failure at Richmond received the Edwin C. Bearss Book Award for Outstanding Scholarship from the Chicago Civil War Roundtable as well as the Emerging Civil War 2023 Book of the Year. Recently, he completed a more than 30-year career as an attorney working on environmental and consumer issues.
Patrick K. O'Donnell
Ohio native Patrick K. O’Donnell is a bestselling, critically acclaimed military historian and an expert on elite units. The author of thirteen books, including The Indispensables. The Unknowns, and Washington’s Immortals, he is the recipient of numerous national awards. O’Donnell served as a combat historian in a Marine rifle platoon during the Battle of Fallujah and is a professional speaker on America’s conflicts, espionage, special operations, and counterinsurgency. He has provided historical consulting for DreamWorks’ award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers and for documentaries produced by the BBC, the History Channel, and Discovery.
