Greetings,

The August, 2007 meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable will be held Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 7 PM in the cafe of Borders Books store in Governor's Square Mall. This is located on Wilma Rudolph Highway (US 79) just south of Exit 4 off I-24 in Clarksville, TN. The meeting is always open to interested members of the public and you do not need to be an expert to attend!.

This month we welcome historian Myers Brown of the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville. His program will be the “Fighting Joe Wheeler,” an overview of the famous Confederate and US Army officer's long career in both the Civil War and Spanish-American War.

Joe Wheeler, despite the fact that he commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Tennessee and both Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Hunt Morgan served under him at different times during the war, remains in the shadows of his more colorful subordinates. This presentation will explore the life and times of General Joe Wheeler from his days at West Point to his command at San Juan Hill in 1898. The program will also include an analysis of his command abilities, often criticized during the war by fellow officers. He could be brilliant at times and off base at others, sometimes seeking more glory than functionality. Wheeler ended the war as a Major General while Forrest beat him in rank as Lt. General.

Wheeler, dubbed the "warchild" due to his short stature and young age, began as the colonel of the 19th Alabama Infantry. After moving to the mounted arm, his rise through the ranks was rapid into the pantheon of Army of Tennessee generals. After the war he was elected to Congress. In 1898, President William McKinley, needing to move troops through the South as well as needing the support of its people, would recall him to active duty in the Spanish-American War commanding a cavalry division in the Santiago, Cuba campaign. Teddy Roosevelt's famous "Rough Riders" (1st United States Cavalry Volunteers) were part of his command. Sick with malaria, Wheeler tended to call the Spanish troops "Damn Yankees" at every opportunity! His often unauthorized movements would contribute to winning the campaign.

Myers Brown is the curator of History and Extension Services at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville. A native of Nashville, he was former curator of the Joe Wheeler Home in Pond Springs, Alabama, as well as a curator for the Atlanta History Center. He holds degrees in history from Middle Tennessee State University and Oglethorpe University of Atlanta. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians and several museum associations and is the curator behind the "Hoofbeats in the Heartland" Civil War cavalry exhibit due to open at Clarksville's Customs House Museum in the Summer of 2008.

We hope you can join the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable for the August program “Fighting Joe Wheeler.”

Greg Biggs
Clarksville CWRT