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2004 Seminars and Field Trips
Hilton
Head Symposium Shiloh
and Corinth Vicksburg
Atlanta
James
Taylor - Bearss Premier Antietam
Sabers
and Saddles Gettysburg
- Opportunity Missed Overland
Campaign Gettysburg
- Two a Day Red
River Campaign Cedar
Creek Iuka
and Corinth Perryville Andover Shiloh
and Corinth - Repeat Middle
Tennessee Gettysburg
- Charge and Retreat
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Please mail all registration forms (when posted) to:
Blue
and Gray Educations Society
<Program Name>
416 Beck Street
Norfolk, Virginia 23503
Or fax the registration forms to 434-836-3292 or call Toll Free 888-741-2437
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Historian Richard McMurry is one of the nation's leading Civil War scholars. His emphasis on Western Civil War historiography has brought that theater out into full view. For two years now, McMurry has invited some distinguished colleagues to participate in a significant, diverse, and exciting forum. The program continues to exceed expectations! With an intelligent and receptive audience seeking more, Richard has delivered another strong program for 2004. As in the first two programs these presentations will advance beyond narrow single theme programs to generate discussions leading to a higher level understanding of the ramifications of the war. |
Richard McMurry’s South
Atlantic Civil War Symposium Hilton Head Island, South Carolina |
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The Battle of Shiloh |
Executive Director Len Riedel and retired general,
Parker Hills will take you up close and personal to this watershed event in
world military history. If
Manassas grabbed the nation’s attention—Shiloh was a world level event
with casualties that evoke emotions even today.
This battlefield is both pristine and remote—a true trans century
experience. During our extensive walking tour, set up by classroom lectures,
you’ll examine the issues, battle and leaders associated with the Federal
May 1862 capture of Corinth. |
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Far too little attention is paid to the great campaigns in the west, now BGES introduces a series of lecture programs to compliment our strong battlefield tour programs. We open with the Vicksburg Campaign in the quaint and historic town of Raymond. Lectures will be held in the local church—a hospital after the battle. A variety of opinions and unique insights will be offered. An extensive walking tour of the battle of Raymond is included. Look to this site for an announcement of the speakers later this fall. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will
be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours
email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us
which programs you are considering |
Vicksburg is the Key Introducing BGES' Raymond, Mississippi |
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Atlanta Ed Bearss’ Essential Civil War, Stop 12 Atlanta,
Georgia |
Ed opens his programs for the decisive year of 1864
with the most important of the campaigns—Sherman’s drive for Atlanta.
Here in just three months the Confederacy was mortally wounded and
when Atlanta fell on September 1st the reelection of President
Lincoln was assured. The
program will pair two of America’s most popular and insightful
historians—Ed Bearss and Richard McMurry for three days you won’t
forget. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
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Welcome
from Len Riedel, Executive Director |
The James Taylor An Ed Bearss Premier Program Winchester,
Virginia |
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Battle of Antietam The BGES’ Military Staff Ride Hagerstown,
Maryland |
Nothing beats walking the grounds except perhaps
arriving at “Ah Ha!” moments.
Our staff ride program has been substantially revamped and improved
to teach you how to study a battlefield and understand “Why” the battle
unfolded as it did. This
program requires you to do your homework.
Do you think you know Antietam?
You must have a working knowledge of it before you get to Hagerstown.
There are mandatory readings and you must pass a written examination before
we will register you—only 30 people will be admitted.
You will be expected to attend a block of instruction on the staff
ride history, methodology and applications on the afternoon of May 13th
at 1 PM. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
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Only three rebel cavalrymen excited the
imagination of their nation and maintained their luster over the past
140 years: JEB Stuart,
John H. Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Of the three, the most aggressive and controversial was
Forrest. A slave trader
before the war he was a fierce, independent warrior whose battlefield
prowess set him apart. By
studying his Mississippi battles—Shiloh, Fallen Timbers, Okolona,
Brice’s Crossroads and Tupelo, Parker Hills will help you appreciate
him--warts and all. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
Sabers and Saddles: Corinth,
Mississippi |
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Gettysburg
- July 1st Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania Canceled |
Of the three days fighting at Gettysburg the
first one was the most interesting tactically.
It involved a wide sweep of the field, massive troop movements,
desperate stands and tremendous opportunities.
Join some of the best of the licensed battlefield guides as
they break apart this day on the field and in panel discussions each
evening. Examine the field from the both northern and southern
perspectives. This
program has a special post event bonus. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
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This titanic struggle between Lee and Grant is much
better understood thanks to the seminal works of Gordon Rhea.
In our 9 years we have never done the Overland Campaign with Ed—now
that deficiency will be remedied. This
wide ranging program will take us from the banks of the Rapidan River to the
banks of the James River in just 3 days.
You won’t want to miss this one—it is one of the most important
of the series. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will
be announced by email when they are available.
To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org
and tell us which programs you are considering. |
The
1864 Ed Bearss' Essential Civil War Stop #13 Fredericksburg,
Virginia |
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“Two a Day” Gettysburg Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania |
We are expanding our programming to provide a period
for people to do Gettysburg on their own schedule and on demand.
This two-week cycle will offer a wide variety of four-hour programs
in the style of our Focus Weekends. Each
day BGES will offer a tour at 9 AM and a different one at 2 PM.
It is a great way to plan a Gettysburg family vacation.
Individual programs and instructors will be posted in due course. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
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The systematic dismantling of the South called
for the progressive advance of Union armies against major ports and
centers of commerce, north to south and west to east.
The 1864 Red River campaign proved an aberration that was
nearly a major disaster for the Union army under Nathaniel Banks and
the Union Navy under David Dixon Porter.
The campaign had its genesis in the Union government’s
concern for the vulnerability of Texas to French/Mexican adventurism.
The central point of the campaign is the battlefield at
Mansfield—a major preservation project.
This event ties together Trans Mississippi affairs in the EBECW
series. |
The
Red River Ed Bearss' Essential Civil War Stop #14 Shreveport,
Louisiana |
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Membership Newtown,
Virginia |
Come join us in a celebration of the strength of the BGES as
we tour the site of our most recent interpretative achievement.
BGES members have provided 11 wayside markers for this largest of all
Shenandoah Valley battlefields. BGES
now has fielded over 40 wayside markers of which 24 are in Virginia.
This site’s importance has been recognized by the National Park
Service and it will soon be their next National Battlefield Park.
This program is our way of saying thank you. This program is open to all current, past and prospective
members of the BGES. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
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This year the BGES is covering in detail each of
the three simultaneous and important Confederate Fall offensives of
1862. This program, led
by Parker Hills and Len Riedel, examines the overlooked but important
fighting in mid-September and early October 1862 with US Grant,
William S. Rosecrans, Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn.
The Confederates’ failure here and elsewhere along the 1000
mile front seriously damaged their prospects in the west.
This program will take you to 3 battlefields you know very
little about. Once we are
done you will know how this three week period fits into the larger
picture. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
Fall
1862, Corinth,
Mississippi |
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Perryville The BGES’ Military Staff Ride Harrodsburg,
Kentucky |
Nothing beats walking the grounds except
perhaps arriving at “Ah Ha!” moments.
Our staff ride program has been substantially revamped and
improved to teach you how to study a battlefield and understand
“Why” the battle unfolded as it did.
This program requires you to do your homework.
Do you think you know the battle and importance of Perryville?
There are mandatory readings and you must pass a written examination
before we will register you—only 30 people will be admitted.
You will be expected to attend a block of instruction on
the staff ride history, methodology and applications on the afternoon
of September 23rd at 1 PM (this requirement is waived if
you previously attended the same lectures at Antietam in May). Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
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This increasingly popular program has produced
some seminal scholarship in its short history with the proceeds being
published by the Massachusetts School of Law.
This is a splendid counter balance to the prevailing trends to
perpetuate “Southern” presentations of the war.
This program will examine the political framework of the prewar
debate up to and including the firing on Fort Sumter.
The Sunday program will examine Federal mobilization for war
and the battle of Bull Run. This
is an affordably priced program that you don’t want to miss. |
The
North in The Third Annual Andover, Massachusetts |
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The
Battle of Shiloh |
Executive Director Len Riedel and retired general,
Parker Hills will take you up close and personal to this watershed event in
world military history. If
Manassas grabbed the nation’s attention—Shiloh was a world level event
with casualties that evoke emotions even today.
This battlefield is both pristine and remote—a true trans century
experience. During our extensive walking tour, set up by classroom lectures,
you’ll examine the issues, battle and leaders associated with the Federal
May 1862 capture of Corinth. |
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Ed concludes his fourth season with this versatile and
important program covering the 1862 capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, the
battle of Stones River and Hood’s 1864 Tennessee campaign of Columbia,
Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville. This
program is emotional and important. In
three short days you will see the mighty and the humble—nothing will
prepare you for the lacerated and fragmented wall at the Carter House, the
tragic irony of Patrick Cleburne’s death site and the unforgettable
simplicity of the Confederate Cemetery at Carnton Plantation—and that is
just one day. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |
The
Fight for Ed Bearss' Essential Civil War Stop #15 Nashville,
Tennessee |
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“The
Charge” and Retreat Gettysburg Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania |
There is no event in the American Civil War and perhaps
in world history to rival the great charge of Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble
on July 3, 1863. There is no
one who knows it better or presents it more dramatically than Wayne Motts.
There is more than that--the withdrawal and pursuit of Lee’s
dramatically weakened but formidable force is rarely studied or viewed.
Now you can do both while debating the lessons and missed
opportunities of this greatest of all Civil War battles.
This too will have a post event surprise. Detailed program brochures and registration forms will be announced by email when they are available. To ensure you get yours email bgesbill@blue-and-gray-education.org and tell us which programs you are considering. |