Hello,

The October 2008 meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable will be held Wednesday, October 15th, 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:

Birge's Western Sharpshooters -

During the late summer of 1861, a regiment unlike any other in the North, was raised at Benton Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri. Officially known as the 14th Missouri Western Sharpshooters, it was comprised of companies representing most of the states in the Midwest including Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. The regiment would be utilized as sharpshooters and trained as such. To simply enlist into this unit was not an option; in fact, each man had to qualify to be eligible which included putting a three bullet grouping within the space of a US belt plate at 200 yards.

From its first battles in Missouri in 1861 to the Ft. Donelson Campaign of February, 1862, Birge's Sharpshooters displayed their unique fighting style and coolness in battle. Equipped with Dimmock hunting rifles, the Sharpshooters made life very miserable for the Confederates that faced them holding Ft. Donelson where their accurate fire served to decimate Porter’s Tennessee Battery.

Later battles at Shiloh and Corinth cemented their reputation and the regiment bought with their own money the deadly Henry repeating rifles, which they used to deadly effect for the rest of the war. Their designation also changed to the 66th Illinois Western Sharpshooters and they covered themselves with praise in the 1864 Atlanta Campaign.

This program will cover their organization and training with special emphasis of their service at Ft. Donelson. Artifacts will also be displayed which will include original images, some battle field recoveries, reunion memorabilia and more.

John Walsh is a clinical specialist with Vapotherm and the co-owner with his wife Nikki of Fort Donelson Relics in Dover, Tennessee. An avid relic hunter, historian and expert on Civil War photography, John has addressed the Clarksville CWRT before with his excellent presentation on Civil War era photography. We look forward to hearing this interesting program on a fascinating unit that fought just down the road from Clarksville.

Please join us as the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable welcomes John Walsh and his program "Birge's Western Sharpshooters."

Greg Biggs
Clarksville CWRT