Upcoming Civil War Institute

          The schedule for the 2017 Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College is online at http://www.gettysburg.edu/cwi/conference/schedule.dot and next year’s program will be a great one. Your Loyal Blogger is irritated that the event is still better than half a year away.

          Readers can view the program through the link above so there is no point in reprinting the sked here but there isn’t much point to writing a blog without expressing an opinion. Thus, a few points are offered.

          James Ogden, the National Park Service Historian at the Chickamauga/Chattanooga National Military Park and a favorite of this blogger, will speak about the siege of Chattanooga following the Battle of Chickamauga. This is going to be a great talk. Few historians, if there are any at all, have mastered their subject as well as Ogden has his.

          Penn State University’s Carol Reardon, whose book Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory stands among the finest books YLB has read, regardless of subject, will lead a tour of Antietam and serve on a panel that will discuss myths about Civil War battle tactics.

          Every once in a while historians need a new idea to write about. The reputations of historic figures ebb and flow because of that. This could become true for Confederate General Braxton Bragg, who has been a punch line for an endless number of  one-liners (or cheap shots, depending upon your view point) through the years. YLB sees Bragg’s tenure as commander of the Army of Tennessee as a failure of leadership style, but also believes many of Bragg’s problems stemmed from having officers in his army who frequently didn’t feel like following orders. Thus, Earl Hess’ presentation, Rethinking Braxton Bragg, promises to be fascinating.

          You can read the schedule yourself and see that the Institute will be another winner next year. Interested? The contact info is available through the link. Hope to see you there.

          Thanks for reading.