In a "peoples war," such as the American Civil War, many men with no professional military training rose to positions of high command. Many of these "citizen soldiers" did not measure up to the challenges of command. One who did was Bryan Grimes of North Carolina. During the course of the conflict, Grimes rose from the rank of major to major general and fought with distinction in many of the foremost battles in the Eastern theatre of war. This presentation highlights the evolving leadership of Bryan Grimes.

This presentation examines the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Douglas Southall Freeman (1886-1953) within the context of the southern intellectual community of the early twentieth century. Dr. Freeman's work as editor of the Richmond News-Leader from 1915-1949, and especially his widely acclaimed works on Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, placed him at the forefront of the "Southern Renaissance" of the 1930s and the 1940s. As a leading member of that small but influential community of southern intellectuals who served as a bridge between their region with its distinctive history and the rest of the nation, Freeman and his work help to illustrate many of the major themes of recent history.

This presentation examines the life of James Longstreet, who, despite his stellar record as a corps commander in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, became on the most vilified figures in the postbellum South. How much of the abuse heaped upon General Longstreet by his fellow white Southerners was deserved and how much of it was part of the myth of the "Lost Cause?" To what extent has popular culture (e.g., the novel The Killer Angels and the film Gettysburg) rehabilitated Longstreet's reputation? In short, how does the life of Longstreet illustrate the use and abuse of history for political and cultural purposes?

Requirements for Program: none