Announcing Our 526th Meeting

DATE: Saturday, February 10

PROGRAM: 8:00 P.M.

The Battle and Legacy of Missionary Ridge
Presented by Christopher L. Kolakowski

We welcome back former member and LCWRT President Chris Kolakowski to our February meeting.  Chris was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Va. He received his BA in History and Mass Communications from Emory & Henry College, and his MA in Public History from the State University of New York at Albany.  

Chris has spent his career interpreting and preserving American military history with the National Park Service, New York State government, the Rensselaer County (NY) Historical Society, the Civil War Preservation Trust, Kentucky State Parks, and the U.S. Army. He has written and spoken on various aspects of military history from 1775 to the present. He has published two books with the History Press: The Civil War at Perryville: Battling For the Bluegrass and The Stones River and Tullahoma Campaign: This Army Does Not Retreat. In September 2016, the U.S. Army published his volume on the 1862 Virginia Campaigns as part of its sesquicentennial series on the Civil War. He is a contributor to the Emerging Civil War Blog, and his study of the 1941-42 Philippine Campaign titled Last Stand on Bataan was released by McFarland in late February 2016. He is currently working on a book about the 1944 India-Burma Campaigns scheduled for release in 2020.
Chris came to Norfolk having served as Director of the General George Patton Museum and Center of Leadership in Fort Knox, KY from 2009 to 2013. He became the MacArthur Memorial Director on September 16, 2013 where he currently serves.

The Battle and Legacy of Missionary Ridge

The capture of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863 was a turning point in the Civil War, and capped a series of battles that left the Union in undisputed control of the key city of Chattanooga. The actions of an 18-year-old lieutenant in the 24th Wisconsin, Arthur MacArthur, at this battle would reverberate far beyond southeastern Tennessee. In some ways, the foundation of the MacArthur military dynasty occurred on the slopes of Missionary Ridge. Other echoes of the battle can be heard even today. The talk will discuss the battle, its impact on the Civil War, and its enduring legacies.