Circular Memorandum #579, November 2026
Announcing our 603rd Meeting
“The Orphan Brigade”
Presented by: William C. “Jack” Davis
Date: Saturday, November 7 Location: Big Spring Country Club
Cocktails: 6:00 PM Dinner: 7:00 PM Program: 8:00 PM
Meet Our Speaker – William C. “Jack” Davis
We welcome back longtime friend of the Round Table William C. “Jack” Davis. Specializing in the American Civil War, Davis has twice been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize (for Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol and Battle at Bull Run). He has written more than 40 books on the American Civil War and other aspects of early southern U.S. history. He is the only four-time winner of the Jefferson Davis Prize for Confederate history and was awarded the Jules F. Landry Award for Southern history.
Davis earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts of History in 1969 from Sonoma State University. For many years he was editor and publisher of Civil War Times Illustrated and lived in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Davis's expertise on Confederate and southern U.S. history has made him a valued consultant for newspaper articles as well as television productions, including the Arts & Entertainment Network/History Channel series "Civil War Journal". Davis served as a consultant for the creation of a United States postage stamp of Jefferson Davis and has had input into the formation of the Museum of the Civil War in Petersburg, Virginia.
He was awarded the Sonoma State University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1993. He is a past president of the National Historical Society. In 2000, Davis became a professor at Virginia Tech, where he served as director of programs for the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. He is now retired and lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.
“The Orphan Brigade”
In September of 1861, the Kentucky legislature voted to align itself with the Union. It was a decision that tore at the heart of the state, splitting apart families and severing friendships. For the men of the newly raised First Kentucky Brigade of the Confederacy, the vote would mark the beginning of a war-long period of exile from their homes. Outcasts from their mother state, the men of the First Kentucky would nonetheless battle fiercely for the cause of the South—an orphan brigade in the raging tumult of the; Civil War. Join us as legendary historian and author William C. “Jack” Davis will tell the story of the Orphan Brigade in an entertaining and informative talk.
Buffet Dinner - $40
Big Spring Country Club has raised our buffet dinner price to $40. This includes the cost of our meeting room. It has been several years since the cost of our meal has increased, so this should not come as a surprise. In today’s economic environment, inflation and rising costs are just part of our life. We have looked at other options, but nothing comes close to Big Spring in providing a very nice place to meet, consistently good food and service that we can count on.
Make Your Meeting Reservations Online!
We are encouraging members to make your reservation using our website. It is easy, secure and makes checking in at the meetings much smoother. You can click on this link and make your reservation and payment for the September meeting.
https://www.louisvillecwrt.com/store-2/p/william-c-davis
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED!
Reservations Are to be or Made on Our Website or Sent to Doug Krawczyk
If you do not make a reservation, you may not get fed!
The Round Table must give Big Spring an accurate count of reservations no later than Thursday before our Saturday meeting. Reservations can be made by emailing Doug Krawczyk at rdklou1@gmail.com or by calling Doug Krawczyk at 502-592-6864.
When making a reservation for more than yourself, please list the names of everyone for which you are making a reservation. If you are calling Doug, and get his voicemail, please spell your name so he can properly identify the reservation.
If you wish to join us for just the program, you must still make a reservation so we can assure you have space and a seat. If you are attending just the program, you can call Doug anytime up to 4:00 PM the day of the Meeting.
Reminder for Table Reservations: Tables for parties of eight (8) can be reserved. When making a Table Reservation, please list the names of everyone in your party. That will ensure everyone in your party will be at the same table and enable us to manage our meeting space in a more efficient manner.
Popular and Award-Winning Civil War Historian William C. "Jack" Davis Announces
November 2026 Speaking Tour in Three Kentucky Cities
William C. "Jack" Davis will speak at 3 Civil War history events across Kentucky in early November, 2026. Davis is one of America’s most respected historians and has created a legacy of scholarship and narrative focused primarily on the American Civil War. The speaking tour will focus on the complex human dynamics and leadership crises of the era, presenting insights from his lifetime of research.
Acclaimed Television and Media Contributions
Attendees will recognize Davis from his decades of prominent television and documentary work. His media contributions include:
· Civil War Journal – Served as the senior on-camera consultant and commentator for the highly rated 52-episode History Channel and A&E series.
· C-SPAN Networks – Featured in numerous lectures and academic panels detailing different aspects of the Civil War (currently part of 19 different recordings available on the C-SPAN site.)
· Film Consultations – Worked extensively on historical accuracy and screenplays alongside director Ron Maxwell (Gettysburg and Gods and Generals).
10 Best-Selling & Essential Civil War Books
Some of Davis's most sought-after and definitive works among over 60 in print include:
1. Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour – The definitive, critically acclaimed biography of the Confederate president.
2. Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol – The definitive Pulitzer Prize nominated biography of the former Vice-President of the U.S. and Confederate Major General.
3. An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government – A dramatic narrative tracking the final collapse of the Southern cabinet.
4. Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America – A comprehensive, single-volume exploration of Southern wartime society.
5. Battle at Bull Run – Highly regarded as the definitive operational history of the war's first major campaign.
6. Crucible of Command: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee – A dual biography contrasting the strategies and philosophies of the war's two titans.
7. A Taste for War: The Culinary History of the Blue and the Gray – A unique social history exploring the diet, rationing, and daily life of the common soldier.
8. Rebels and Yankees: Commanders of the Civil War – A beautifully illustrated, highly popular biographical profile of key battlefield leaders.
9. First Blood: Fort Sumter to Bull Run – A top-selling chronicle of the war's opening salvos, originally published in cooperation with Time-Life Books.
10. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War – An essential reference guide documenting the soldiers, tactics, and weaponry of the conflict.
Jack Davis Events in November
Each engagement will include a formal lecture, an interactive audience Q&A session, and a book signing featuring his top titles.
· Event 1: Monthly meeting of the Louisville Civil War Round Table at 6 pm on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Big Spring Country Club. www.LouisvilleCWRT.com/meetings
Topic: The Orphan Brigade
· Event 2: 25th Anniversary of Battlefield Preservation Celebration, hosted by the Battle of Richmond Association in Richmond at 5 pm on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at the Lake Buck Lodge on the Blue Grass Army Depot (located on the Richmond Battlefield.) battleofrichmond1862@yahoo.com
Topic: The Orphan Brigade
· Event 3: Monthly meeting of the Kentucky Civil War Round Table at 5:30 pm on Monday, November 9, 2026, at The Signature Club at Lansdowne in Lexington. www.KYCivilWarRoundtable.org/speakers/#folders
Topic: The Making of the Confederate Government
For more information, call George Ridings at (859) 661-3289.
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 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.
Harold Holzer is Coming to the Louisville Civil War Round Table!
Mark your calendars for our meeting to be held on May 8, 2027. Harold Holzer helped us celebrate our 65th anniversary and our 600th meeting last May, and we are very excited to announce that he will be returning this coming May. Harold Holzer is the country's leading authority on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era. A prolific writer and lecturer, and frequent guest on television, Holzer served for six years (2010–2016) as Chairman of The Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. Stay tuned for details as this will be a meeting you will not want to miss!
The 2027 Field Trip Will Be to Antietam April 21-25
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 begin taking your non-refundable reservations in December. Reservations will be made on-line or you may give your check to John Davis or Patrick Wilbourn.
Tom Clemons Our Antietam Guide
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 included in the 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.
Name Badge Policy
We are implementing a new “name badge policy”. Each member will be responsible for keeping their name badges. No longer will the name badges be brought to the meeting and placed on racks. There will be a box with the name badges sorted alphabetically and you can check this box. When you leave the meeting do not leave your name badge, take it home with you and bring it to the next meeting. New members will be given a name badge and if you lose your name badge you can email John Davis at jddavis1122@gmail.com to get a new one.
2026 – 2027 Schedule
Saturday November 7 William C. Davis “The Orphan Brigade”
Friday December 11 Phillip Seyfrit and George Ridings “The Battle of Richmond, Kentucky: History and Preservation”
Saturday January 16 Kent Masterson Brown “The Battle of Perryville”
Saturday February 13 Tim Johson “The Mexican War as a Civil War Training Ground”
Saturday March 13 Tim Smith “U.S. Grant: America’s Napoleon”
Saturday April 10 Cecily Zander “Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat”
Saturday May 8 Harold Holzer “TBA”
Kentucky’s Orphan Brigade
The Orphan Brigade was the nickname of the First Kentucky Brigade; a group of military units recruited from Kentucky to fight for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. They were distinguished by their fighting spirit and tenacity and were known, feared, and respected from their earliest campaigns up until the closing days of the war. The brigade was the largest Confederate unit to be recruited from Kentucky during the war. Its original commander was John C. Breckinridge, former United States vice president, and Kentucky's former senator, who was enormously popular with Kentuckians.The regiments that were part of the Orphan Brigade were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th Kentucky Infantry Regiments. Units of the Orphan Brigade were involved in many military engagements in the American South during the war, including the battles of Shiloh ,Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Atlanta campaign. In 1862, Breckinridge was promoted to division command and was succeeded in the brigade by Brigadier GeneralRoger W. Hanson. At the Battle of Stones River, the brigade suffered heavy casualties in an assault on January 2, 1863, including General Hanson. Breckinridge—who vehemently disputed the order to charge from the army's commander, General Braxton Bragg—rode among the survivors, crying out repeatedly, "My poor Orphans! My poor Orphans," noted brigade historian Ed Porter Thompson, who used the term in his 1868 history of the unit. The name came from how the Confederacy viewed its soldiers from Kentucky, which remained in the Union, though many in the state sided with the Confederacy. Even a separate Confederate government of Kentucky was formed and was represented by a star in both countries' flags and had representation in both governments. The term was not in widespread use during the war, but it became popular afterwards among the veterans. The Orphan Brigade lost another commander at the Battle of Chickamauga, when Brigadier General Benjamin H. Helm, Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, was mortally wounded on September 20, 1863, and died the following day. MajorRice E. Graves, the artillery commander, was also mortally wounded.[2] The Orphan Brigade was converted to mounted infantry in 1864 and opposed Sherman's March to the Sea. They ended the war fighting in South Carolina in late April 1865, and surrendered at Washington, Georgia, on May 6–7, 1865. Only about 400 of the orginal 4,000 men of the brigade survived to the war’s end. Its last commander was Colonel Joesph H. Lewis. Several members of our Round Table have ancestors in the Orpan Brigade.
Attest: By Order of:
John Davis Bob Glass
Adjutant President