A Perfect Hell of Blood: The Battle of the Crater

Announcing Our 530th Meeting

DATE: Friday, September 7                       

A Perfect Hell of Blood: The Battle of the Crater

Presented by A. Wilson Greene

         

We welcome back our friend Will Greene to the September meeting. Will recently completed a 44-year career in public history as a park historian, battlefield preservationist, and museum director.  Greene holds degrees in history from Florida State University and Louisiana State University, where he did his graduate work under the legendary T. Harry Williams.  He worked for the National Park Service for sixteen years, was the first executive director of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (now the Civil War Trust) and is the founding executive director of Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier.   

He is the author of six books and more than 20 published articles on Civil War history, Greene's latest publication is A Campaign of Giants: The Petersburg Campaign from the Crossing of the James to the Battle of the Crater.  

Greene lives in Walden, Tennessee with his wife, Maggie, and his cat, Ozzie Guillen.  Will was our guide in and 2013 and will be our guide on next spring’s field trip to cover Jackson’s 1862 Shenandoah campaign.

“A Perfect Hell of Blood: The Battle of the Crater”

The Petersburg Campaign lasted 292 days, but the one Petersburg event that stands out for most students of the Civil War is the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864.  The basic facts about this infamous engagement that Ulysses S. Grant called "the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war" are well known.  A Pennsylvania regiment, full of former coal miners, dug a mine shaft in which they packed 8,000 pounds of black powder under a prominent Confederate fort.  The explosion blasted a huge hole in the ground, but the Union attackers, instead of going around the crater, stopped and sought shelter.  Confederate counterattacks regained the lost ground in some of the war's most brutal close-quarters combat.  Will Greene discovered in the course of his research new information, some of which runs counter to the standard Crater narrative.  His illustrated talk, "A Perfect Hell of Blood," will reveal some of those findings and in the process remind listeners how war can transform men into remorseless killers.

As Summer Ends, a New Season Arrives for LCWRT

The LCWRT will open its 57th year this September with our guest speaker, Will Green on the Battle of the Crater.  This year will will host both new and repeat guest speakers, including Jeffrey Wert, Bud Robertson, Clay Stuckey, Brian Steele Wills, Michael Murphy , Stephen Davis and Chris Mackowski.

And as for our 2019 Spring Field Trip? 

We will be heading to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where we will study the famous 1862 Valley Campaign of Stonewall Jackson.  The dates for the trip are April 24-28, 2019 and our guide will be Will Greene.  Will is one of the best guides we have ever had and we are looking forward to having him interpret Stonewall Jackson’s epic valley campaign of 1862. We will be headquartered in Harrisonburg from which we will traverse up and down the Valley visiting all the major sites of the campaign.  It has been 25 years since the Round Table took a field trip to study this important operation.

And from the Summer Issue of the LCWRT Adjutant's Call: 

"Seventh Annual Bourbon and BBQ a Big Success!

On the beautiful afternoon of Saturday of June 23rd, some sixty-five members and guests gathered at the lovely home of Art Boerner on the Ohio in southern Indiana for a wonderful afternoon of fun, food, and fellowship! We want to thank everyone who attended and donated time and money to this event. Our theme for this year was Irish Whiskey and how it contrasted with Bourbon.  Once again Bourbon historian Mike Veach served as master of ceremonies and conducted the auction. Chris Zaborowski a veteran of the beverage alcohol business and current owner of Westport Whiskey & Wine in Louisville led the tasting of three Irish whiskeys and three bourbons. I think Kentucky bourbon was the clear favorite! This was followed by a BBQ feast with fantastic ribs prepared by Art Boerner and scrumptious pulled pork slow cooked and smoked by Marc Oca with all the side dishes and desserts one could hope for including peach and blackberry cobbler prepared by Cindy Winslow.  Everyone had a great time and no one left hungry!"

2018 LCWRT Bourbon & Barbecue on the River