Adjutant’s Call Summer 2026
Circular Memorandum #577, Summer 2026
Our 66th Year is Almost Here!!!
Greetings! In May, we celebrated our 65th year and our six hundredth meeting, with famed historian and Lincoln scholar, Harold Holzer. Now, as we toil through the hot and humid days of July and August, the Louisville Civil War Round Table can look forward to another exciting season that is fast approaching! We will be starting up again on September 11, with former National Park Service Ranger, attorney, and founder of several historical walking tours, Brandon Carter. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming year; a fantastic line-up of speakers, that include some of the very best Civil War historians in the country, a field trip that will likely sell-out FAST, and broader utilization of our website, to include reservations and online payments for all events. The April field trip will tour the battlefields of the 1862 Antietam campaign with Civil War historian, Tom Clemons. See further details below.
Our Patron members are the main reason we can continue to operate, and our thanks are due to all of them for being willing to give above the basic membership fee because they appreciate what we are doing and want us to continue being one of the best Round Tables in the country. If you are not a Patron, please consider becoming one. We had 78 Patron memberships last year and it would be great if we could push that number to 100!
These are your Board of Directors for the coming year: President, Bob Glass, Julie Bartlett, John Davis, Treasurer, Patrick Wilbourn, Joanne Kiefer, Webmaster, Brian Taylor, Art Boerner, Doug Krawczyk, Cindy Winslow, Terry Pyles, Marc Oca, Lowell Griffin, Gary McGruder, and Chris Morris.
Bob Glass is Our New President
Bob Glass will be our president for the 2026 – 2027 season. He took over as president on July 1. His signature hats leave no doubt that he’s a proud Texan, but he is in the process of becoming a Kentuckian, holding dual “citizenship”. Bob is a retired Colonel of the Air Force and has lots of leadership experience. We look forward to Bob leading us in our 66th year! Thanks to outgoing President Julie Bartlett who did a great job for us!
It is Time for Membership Renewals
**** Patron Memberships Are a Major Boost to the Round Table ****
The annual membership fees of the Round Table are now due and there is good news! Any amount you give above the basic or family membership fee is tax-deductible since the Round Table has tax-exempt status as a 501 (c) (3) organization!
There are Two Ways to Renew Your Yearly Membership Dues:
(1) You can print the membership renewal form attached to this newsletter and mail your renewal check made out to LCWRT directly to Louisville Civil War Round Table, 9462 Brownsboro Road - #142, Louisville, Ky., 40241.
(2) Or you can go to our website https://louisvillecwrt.com by clicking on this link or by googling “Louisville Civil War Round Table” which will bring up a link to our website. On the home page of our website Click on “Join” at the top. This will take you to “Membership”, scroll down and you will find options to renew your membership using your credit card. You can click on one of the links below and it will take you directly to your renewal choice.
There are seven levels of membership:
1. Single Membership: $50.00 (Basic Membership One Person) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership
2. Family Membership: $60.00 (Allows spouse or family member to join. $5 for each additional family member living at the same address.) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership-sf9rc
Patron Membership: (Single or Family Membership, plus financial gift to LCWRT; the gift portion is deductible for income tax purposes.) Please select the Level of Patron Membership you wish and know that the LCWRT is most appreciative of your generosity
3. Click the Link Below for Patron Bronze Level Membership ($75) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership-hfe6a-3nrmy
4. Click the Link Below for Patron Silver Level Membership ($100) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership-hfe6a-3nrmy-8lnft
5. Click the Link Below for Patron Gold Level Membership ($150) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership-hfe6a-3nrmy-8lnft-jw59m
6. Click the Link Below for Patron Platinum Level Membership ($200) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership-hfe6a-3nrmy-8lnft-jw59m-rtx2c
Student Membership
7. Click the Link Below for Student Membership ($10) https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/single-membership-hfe6a
We Wish to Thank our Patron Members for 2025 – 2026
Russ and Mary Jane Lohan
Thomas and Kelly Mackey
Dan and Karen Mangus
Robert and Linda Marrett
Jean and Ed Marlow
Steve May
Harris “Hank” Meves
Chris and Angela Morris
Marc and Jill Oca
Jack and Margie Oliver
Sharon K. Owens
Patrick and Elizabeth Padgett
Russell and Kim Patton
Terry Pyles
Joe and Virginia Reinhart
Dane and Danielle Reeves
William and Sherry Riley
Henry Sadlo
Kerry Short
Clay and Jo Stuckey
John F. Sullivan
John Thomas
Brian and Bunny Taylor
Charlie Turner
Rudy Vogt
Noel and Jack Walker
Robert and Dianna Webb
Greg and Jessie Weigel
Ray and Betty Weis
Bob and Sandra West
Patrick and Abbygail Wilbourn
Peter and Jane Wimsatt
Cindy Winslow
Herb Zimmerman
Samuel and Kelly Zimmerman
Michelle and Zach Zimmerman
Robert and Dianna Webb
Nelson and Jill Auge
Edwin “Win” Ahrens
Jerry and Sharon Armstrong
Julie Bartlett and Mike Kurowski
John and Faris Bilby
Stephanie Blair
Art Boerner
Rusty Brown
G C and Marilyn Brunnhoeffer
Douglas Butler and Jamie Jarboe
David and Sandy Cheatham
John and Joy Davis
David and Penny Deatrick
Ed Durnil
John D. Eckerle
Patricia Fikes
Steven and Pamela Fleece
James and Sherry Forrester
Otis and Lois Fox
Paul Fridell and Alex Rohleder
Daniel Garst
Dale and Donna Gettlefinger
Robert and Kay Glass
Beety J. Gorin
Ken and Dianne Golliher
Lowell Griffin
Larry and Mary Lou Hall
Bob and Cindy Heleringer
Jim and Cheri Hill
Jack Jr. and Virgina Holt
David Hottel
Thomas James III
John and Mary Jefferson
Al Jozik
Jan Kempt
John Kington
Ted and Virginia Kozak
Doug and Margaret Krawczyk
Doug Kremer
Carl Kuhl III
Tom Lively
The 2027 Field Trip Will Be to Antietam
Our 2027 field trip will be to Antietam April 21- 25. We will visit Harper’s Ferry, South Mountain, and the Antietam battlefield. Our guide will be veteran Antietam historian and tour guide Tom Clemons. We will start taking reservations in December so mark your calendars.
Tom Clemons
Thomas Clemens received his BA and MA degrees at Salisbury University, and his Doctorate in History Education from George Mason University, studying under noted Civil War historian Dr. Joseph L. Harsh. He taught for 34 years at Hagerstown Community College, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2012.
Tom edited and annotated General Ezra A. Carman’s 1,800 page hand-written manuscript, the Maryland Campaign of September 1862, which was published in 3 volumes by Savas Beatie LLC. These books received the Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award, Reprint Category. His new multi-volume work, The Carman Papers will be released in Fall 2026
He has written numerous articles including Civil War Times, Columbiad and other magazines, as well as several monographs. He appeared as an on-screen historian in episodes of Civil War Journal and in the Emmy-Award winning Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War, 2012.
Tom is a founding member, and current president of Save Historic Antietam Foundation Inc., and a retired Antietam Battlefield Guide
Field Trip to North Carolina
The Carolina Campaign field trip to North Carolina April 22 -26 was a huge success. On Wednesday, April 22 our Free Enterprise bus left for the 600 mile journey to Smithfield, North Carolina which would serve as our headquarters for the next 3 days. On Thursday morning, 34 folks climbed aboard our bus and headed for the Wise’s Fork battlefield in Kinston. This battle was fought March 7 – 10 1865 and was a Union victory as were all the battles in this final campaign. We visited several parts of the Wise’s fork battlefield including some of the best preserved earthworks we have ever seen on any battlefield. Our lunch was at King’s BBQ one of the more famous of the central North Carolina BBQ restaurants. After lunch, we visited the C.S.S. Neuse museum which contains what was salvaged of the Confederate ironclad. The size of the vessel was indeed impressive. Across the street from the original Neuse, we visited a full-scale replica on the Neuse including a recreation of the ironclad’s interior. On Friday morning we drove to Fort Bragg to tour the Monroe’s Crossroads battlefield which is located on the military base. After driving by numerous target practice areas and large fields used for paratrooper practice drops, we arrived at the battlefield which is largely preserved. Here Wade Hampton’s calvary surprised Union troops and after a fierce battle were forced to withdraw. We then drove to the John Smith Plantation House “Oak Grove” which is on the Averasboro battlefield. The house served as a Union hospital after the battle. At Oak Grove we were treated to a fantastic southern style lunch prepared by the owners of Oak Grove. We spent the afternoon visiting sites on the battlefield and visiting the Averasbora Battlefield Museum before returning to our hotel for our traditional pizza party. Saturday was spent visiting different sites on the Bentonville battlefield. This was the largest battle of the final campaign and was fought March 19 – 21, 1865. The American Battlefield Trust has done a great job in the past few years of preserving much of this very large battlefield. Joe Johnston’s much smaller army had initial success, but Sherman’s consolidated armies eventually forced the Confederates to retreat back to Smithfield. Johnston would continue to withdraw into North Carolina and would surrender in late April at the Bennett Place. Saturday evening, we had our grand finale dinner at the Low and Slow Smokehouse which featured a BBQ buffet.
Our guide, Wade Sokoloski, did a fantastic job for us on this field trip. His knowledge of these battles is extensive, and he took us to sites that very few even know exist. We could not have had a better guide.
Harold Holzer Helps Round Table Celebrate 600th Meeting
At our 600th meeting in May, famed Abraham Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer spoke to us on “I Must Have Kentucky: the Place of My Nativity”. We had one of our largest attended meetings in recent years as 130 members and guests came to hear Harold Holzer and to celebrate our 600th meeting in our 65th year. Special thanks are due to those who made this event possible. First and foremost, we need to thank Doug Krawczyk for arranging for Horold Holzer to visit and putting together two days of special events for him. This included a tour of Zachary Taylor’s home “Springfield” given by William, Gist a longtime Round Table member who owns Taylor’s home. Thad Keal took Holzer to visit the grave site of Abraham Lincoln’s grandparents at Long Run Cemetery. They were killed by Indians in 1786. Holzer had never visited this site before Thanks are also due to Art Boerner who was Holzer’s personal chauffeur for the three days he was here taking him to dinner and all the places he visited on Saturday and to and from the airport. President Julie Bartlett provided a birthday cake commemorating our 600th meeting. Our Round Table has a lot to be proud of after 65 years! We are one of the oldest Round Tables in the country and have featured many of the nation’s greatest Civil War historians at our meetings. We have raised over $20,000 for preservation. Members of our Round Table have written and edited over 25 books on the Civil War. Our Bourbon and BBQ is a unique fundraising event that has raised over $25,000 which has enabled us to contribute to preservation opportunities and bring in the best historians in the country to speak at our meetings. It was indeed an honor to have Harold Holzer help us celebrate this milestone and we look forward to many more great years. Our founder, Frank Rankin, was committed to service and preservation of history. Thanks to all our members for helping us make his commitment a reality and may we keep that commitment into the future.
2025 – 2026 Schedule
Friday September 11 Brandon Carter “Four Years at the Brink: Savannah in the Civil War”
Friday October 9 Chris Mackowski “The Rise of U.S. Grant”
Saturday November 7 William C. Davis “The Orphan Brigade”
Friday December 11 Phillip Seyfrit and George Ridings “The Battle of Richmond Kentucky”
Not Receiving the Newsletter?
If you are a member of the Round Table, you should be receiving the newsletter in your email. The newsletter is sent to your email about 12 days before each meeting. There are still a few members who receive the newsletter by mail; we would like all members to receive it by email. If you are not receiving the newsletter, please let us know by emailing John Davis at jddavis1122@gmail.com. It may be that we do not have your correct address or you may have changed your email address to a new one.
The Newsletter is on our Website
If for some reason, you do not get the newsletter or lose or delete your copy, the Newsletter is on our website www.LouisvilleCWRT.com. It is posted on the website approximately 12 days before the meetings.
Attest: By Order of:
John Davis Bob Glass
Adjutant President