Adjutant’s Call October 2025
Circular Memorandum #569, October 2025
“Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln and the Politics of War”
Presented by: George Rable
Date: Friday, October 10 Location: Big Spring Country Club
Cocktails: 6:00 PM Dinner: 7:00 PM Program: 8:00 PM
Meet Our Speaker – George Rable
George C. Rable is Professor Emeritus and formerly the Charles G. Summersell Chair in Southern History at the University of Alabama (1998-2016). Born in Lima, Ohio, in 1950, he received his B.A from Bluffton College (1972), his M.A from Louisiana State University (1973), and his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (1978) where he studied under T. Harry Williams. He taught at Anderson University in Indiana from 1979-1998. From 2004-2008, he served as the President of the Society of Civil War Historians. His books include: Damn Yankees! Demonization and Defiance in the Confederate South (Louisiana State University Press, 2015), which won the James I. Robertson, Jr. Literary Prize. God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War (University of North Carolina Press, 2010), which won the Jefferson Davis Award and was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title; Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! (University of North Carolina Press, 2002), which won the Lincoln Prize, the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award in American Military History, the Jefferson Davis Award, the Douglas Southall Freeman History Award and was a History Book Club selection; The Confederate Republic: A Revolution Against Politics (University of North Carolina Press, 1994), which was a History Book Club selection; Civil Wars: Women and the Crisis of Southern Nationalism (University of Illinois Press, 1989), which won the Julia Cherry Spruill Prize and the Jefferson Davis Award; and But There Was No Peace: The Role of Violence in the Politics of Reconstruction. (University of Georgia Press, 1984). His most recent book is Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln which won the Barondess/Lincoln Award from the Civil War Round Table of New York and the Daniel and Marilyn Laney Book Prize from the Austin Civil War Round Table.
Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War
The fraught relationship between Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan is seemingly set in stone—as far as most students of the Civil War are concerned. They know McClellan as a foil to Lincoln who might be able to organize an army but would not or could not fight. As Lincoln once said, McClellan had “the slows” and had to be removed from command. Indeed, opinions about McClellan appeared to almost be baked in and not likely to change. In his own day, however, McClellan had many warm friends and political supporters, and of course no shortage of critics and enemies. McClellan had the misfortune to clash with Abraham Lincoln--another controversial figure of the time but who quickly became the savior of the Union, the great emancipator, and the martyr president in the aftermath of his assassination. This talk will not refight McClellan’s military campaigns but instead will focus on the politics of the clash between Lincoln and McClellan and its impact on the course of the war.
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED!
Reservations Are to be Sent to Doug Krawczyk or Made on Our Website
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 Tuesday before our Friday 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.
Online Options Are Here!
Members of the Round Table now have new options for making dinner reservations, Bourbon & BBQ reservations, field trip reservations, and membership renewals. You can make reservations by clicking on the following links:
Dinner & Program: https://buy.stripe.com/00w4gAesp7lF2S7dAQ87K0P
Program Only: https://buy.stripe.com/5kQ9AU6ZX5dxboDeEU87K0Q
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 membership.
(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 under “Membership”, you will find options to renew your membership using your credit card or you can click on one of the links below and it will take you directly to your renewal.
There are seven levels of membership:
Single Membership: $50.00 (Basic Membership)
Family Membership: $60.00 (Allows spouse or family member to join. $5 for each additional family member living at the same address.)
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 to renew and know that the LCWRT is most appreciative of your generosity
Student Membership: $10.00
Please Note: If you joined the Round Table in either April or May of this year, you do not need to renew your membership at this time. Your membership is good throughout the coming year until next summer.
The Emerging Civil War
Our November speaker, Chris Mackowski, is the managing editor of the Emerging Civil War Series which serves as a public history-oriented platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War.
The primary audience is the general public, so scholarship is defined broadly: historical research, memory studies, travelogues, personal narratives, essays, book reviews, and photography. Journalistic-style coverage of current Civil War-related events and the Civil War in pop culture are also included. Furthermore, ECW encourages respectful discussion about that material. ECW does not publish fiction or poetry.
Our Mission
ECW seeks to encourage a diversity of perspectives in the scholarship it presents. We do that, in part, by identifying and spotlighting the next generation of Civil War historians and the fresh ideas they bring to the historical conversation.
As a collective, the individuals who comprise ECW are encouraged to share their own unique interests and approaches. The combined collection of material—and the respectful discussions that surround it—forward ECW’s overall effort to promote a general awareness of the Civil War as America’s defining event. This is a link to their website emergingcivilwar.com.. You can subscribe and receive daily emails that will contain a variety of articles by historians that will be of interest to you.
The Farmington Historian Lecture Series Presents
William C. “Jack” Davis, retired professor emeritus of American History at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, was educated in Northern California, spent 20 years in editorial management in the magazine and book publishing industry, then left the industry in 1990 to spend the next decade working as a writer and consultant.
There will be two public opportunities to hear Davis speak in Louisville.
On Wednesday, October 8th there will be an intimate dinner with Jack Davis at the Frazier History Museum at 6:30 pm. At this event, Davis will speak on Kentuckian and Vice-President John C. Breckinridge. A $300 ticket includes dinner, drinks, and a copy of the book Wharton’s War.
On Thursday, October 9th Davis will present letters from Wharton’s War with Louisville actress Rena Brown at Farmington at 6:30 pm. A $95 ticket includes a barbeque dinner catered by Kingsley’s at 6pm.
Field Trip to the Carolinas: Sherman’s 1865 Campaign: April 22-26,2026 with Wade Sokolosky
We are going to the Carolinas to learn about the Civil War’s last major campaign that took place in March and April of 1865 culminating in the surrender of the Confederacy’s last major army. The campaign pitted William Sherman against Joseph Johnston. Our guide will be Civil War historian and author Wade Sokolosky. Wade was recently named the new Executive Director of the Blue and Gray Educational Society. He is a retired colonel and a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Army. He is a respected historian and the author of four books with more on the way. Wade has been leading battlefield tours for many years and is recognized as an authority on the Civil War battles in the Carolinas. Wade will be coming to the Round Table to speak to us this December. This is a field trip we have never taken and we will see several well preserved battlefields including Averasboro, Monroe’s Crossroads, Wise’s Forks and Bentonville. We will also see the ironclad CSS Neuse and many other historical sites along the way. We will be staying in Smithfield, North Carolina. We will walk this hollowed ground and cover in detail what unfolded. You can sign up now by emailing John Davis at jddavis1122@gmail.com or you can sign up at the meetings.
2025 – 2026 Schedule
Friday October 10 George Rable “Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War”
Saturday November 8 Chris Mackowski “The Greatest Hits of Stonewall Jackson”
Friday December 12 Wade Sokolosky “The 1865 Carolina Campaign”
Saturday January 17 Kent Masterson Brown “Kentucky in the American Revolution”
Friday February 13 Derrick Lindow “Conquer or Die: Partisan Warfare in 1862 Western Kentucky”
Saturday March 14 Chris Kolakowski “TBA”
Saturday April 11 Will Greene “Lost Opportunity: Grant Crosses the James”
Saturday May 9 Harold Holzer “TBA”
The Bourbon & BBQ Returns!
Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 19 when the 13th Annual Bourbon & BBQ returns! This year’s theme will be “Tennessee and a Twist of Kentucky: The Election of 1844” with Dr. Mark Cheathem presenting. Master Distiller Chris Morris will conduct the tasting of different expressions of Jack Daniel’s whiskeys. Of course, there will be plenty of BBQ and tasty sides. The cost will be $90 for Round Table Members and $100 for non-members. The event will be held at Farmington.
SEPTEMBER 2025 QUIZ:
1. What was the second largest city in Virginia during the Civil War?
It was Petersburg.
2. Roughly how many Union and Confederate soldiers served during the Civil War?
It is estimated that roughly 3 million soldiers served----2.2 million Union and 800,000---900,000 Confederate.
3. What Union general launched a failed attack on Lynchburg, Virginia in mid-June 1864?
That was Major General David Hunter.
4. Who was the highest-ranking Confederate general during the Civil War, and where was he born?
New York born Samuel Cooper, who served as Adjutant and Inspector General of the Confederate Army, outranked all the other generals, including General Lee, by seniority.
5. Who served as the Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac for most of the Civil War?
That was Brigadier General Henry J. Hunt.
OCTOBER 2025 QUIZ:
1. Petersburg was the terminus of how many railroads during the Civil War?
2. Following General J.E.B. Stuart’s death, who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia?
3. How many times did General U.S. Grant try to take Vicksburg before he was successful?
4. What was the bloodiest action of the Vicksburg Campaign?
5. How old was President Lincoln’s assassin?
The Quiz is prepared by Harriette Weatherbee
Attest: By Order of:
John Davis Julie Bartlett
Adjutant President