Hello,

The February, 2008 meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable will be held Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 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!. We meet the Third Wednesday of each month.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC

Our program this month is being presented by Ross Massey of Nashville – who was the first speaker in the history of the Clarksville CWRT! His program this time around will be on “The Battle Of Nashville,” which took place in mid-December, 1864. The consequences of the two days of ferocious Union attacks virtually destroyed Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee. Only a few thousand survivors made it back to Alabama after a relentless Union pursuit.

One can certainly debate the strategic thoughts of Gen. Hood with his plan of invading Tennessee attempting to recapture Nashville with an army that was inferior in size than the Union one that defended it. The Union troops were led by the “Rock of Chickamauga,” Gen. George Thomas, a most capable commander. Did Hood actually think that he could defeat Thomas and retake Nashville? What then? March to the Ohio River; march east to join with Lee (never mind the untenable supply lines in the latter scenario)? This was one Civil War campaign whose outcome was almost predictable but yet still holds a powerful fascination for students of the war in the West.

Massey will detail all aspects of the campaign from Hood’s plans to Union plans to delay him and ultimately destroy him on the hills south of the city. Thomas, himself, was under scrutiny from Gen. Grant for delaying the attack on Hood once he reached the city’s vicinity and had dispatched Gen. John Logan to take over if Thomas had not moved by the time he arrived.

Ross Massey is the historian for the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society (www.bonps.org) being responsible for interpretive markers, tours and much more. He is also an officer with the Joe Johnston SCV Camp in Nashville.

Please join us as Ross Massey speaks on “The Battle Of Nashville” at the February, 2008 Clarksville CWRT meeting.

Greg Biggs
Clarksville CWRT