Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table

Upcoming Round Tables

• Jan-11 "Blundering to Victory", Lee's successful defense of Richmond during the Seven Days Campaign presented by Chuck Young

• Feb-08 The Red River Campaign (or Union Forces in New Mexico) presented by Curt Locklear

• Mar-14 Shutting Down the Union in Northern Alabama presented by Benjamin Sanders

• Apr-11 Fort Delaware – The Survivor's Truths presented by John Coffindaffer

• May-09 The Davis Family and their Relationships with People of Color presented by Ms. Teresa Roane

• Jun-13 Who was Thaddeus Lowe, and did he make a difference in the war? presented by Cheryl McAuley

• Jul-11 TBD presented by TBD

• Aug-08 Grant and Lee after the war presented by Thomas Jessee and Curt Fields

• Sep-12 Fort Oglethorpe and the Chickamauga Battlefield presented by Jeff Ewing

• Oct-10 TBD presented by Mrs. Kellee Blake

Who We Are

The Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table (TVCWRT), was founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1993 to provide a forum for non-partisan study, education, and discussions concerning the American Civil War, and to support the preservation of Civil War battlefields, and related activities. We are a certified as a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization, and membership dues are used for preservation and educational efforts throughout the Tennessee Valley region.

We meet the second Thursday of every month starting at 6:30 PM, except for December. Our meetings are held at:

Huntsville Elks Lodge
725 Franklin St. SE
Huntsville, AL 35801-4309

The program will always feature a nationally or regionally known speaker, and we are well known for covering a wide variety of Civil War topics. Annual membership dues are $30 per household, which includes up to two members per household. Free memberships are offered to full-time students (elementary through undergraduate). The Little Round Table (LRT) Discussion Group is our second monthly forum where a smaller group of interested members and guests enjoy an in-depth discussion of a Civil War topic. The LRT meets at the Elks Lodge at 6:30 PM, the fourth Thursday of every month except November (the last meeting of the year takes place the second Thursday of December, in place of a general meeting).

For questions about the TVCWRT, call (256) 278-5533. We also have a Facebook page.

Our mailing address is:
Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table
P.O. Box 2872
Huntsville, Alabama 35804

President’s Welcome

Welcome to the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table (TVCWRT), now 30 years old.  Article 2 of our Bylaws describes our mission: “The TVCWRT was founded as a not-for-profit organization to provide a forum for non-partisan study, education, and discussions concerning the American Civil War, and to support the preservation of Civil
War battlefields, and related activities.”  Our Round Table is one of the largest in the
country filled with members of exceptional knowledge and talent.  As a non-partisan
organization, we study both sides of the war with equal alacrity. A number of our members are avid scholars of the War Between the States.  A number know very little.  We are all drawn together by a desire to share information and learn more.  We do this through several venues.

Monthly, we schedule speakers who are experts in their fields.  Many of our speakers are nationally/regionally recognized historians/experts.  Our programs cover a variety of topics relating to the war including personalities, battles and campaigns, technology,
and social/economic issues.  For example, the late scholar-historian-author, Dr. Bud Robertson, has spoken to our Round Table.  Dr. Curt Fields has given a superlative first-person soliloquy on General U.S. Grant and is scheduled to return again due to his popularity.  Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park Ranger-Historian Jim Ogden has spoken on the battle of Chickamauga — and assisted by leading a tour of
the battle for Chattanooga.  All of these historians are recognized nationally as experts on the war.  There are many more.  We are very fortunate to have access to them.

Our professionally designed website (tvcwrt.org) remains an outstanding source of research information, especially for students.  The monthly newsletter is a high-quality, professional publication with interesting and informative articles, news, analyses and book reviews.  The newsletters can be found on our website which is open to the public.

The “Little Round Tables” (LRTs) consists of those who are most interested in battles, campaigns,  leaders, and “context”.  They meet to discuss different topics of interest the fourth Thursday of the month for participant-led discussions.  The group normally includes 15-20 participants and all members are welcome.

Our “field trips” field trips visit regional battle and campaign sites every October.   The TVCWRT is extremely fortunate as we literally live in the middle of the Western Theater of operations.  Numerous historical sites are within one day of travel from Huntsville.  Not only are the visits to these sites informative but the trips provide a great way to meet and get-to-know other Round Table members.  Our field trip coordinator
endeavors to schedule the trips on non-Alabama and Auburn football weekends.  We are fortunate that past trips enjoyed beautiful fall weather enhancing educational and social experiences.  

While the above cited activities aptly cover our purpose of “education”, we are also involved in preservation of War Between the States sites.  This is primarily done through individual donations made at meetings when we pass the “Battlefield Bucket” at our meetings.  The optional donation is collected and sent to a membership approved project to help preserve and conduct war-related historical educational activities.  Sites
that have been supported include our local slave cemetery in Huntsville and the General
Joe Wheeler home.

Our meetings are held at the Elks Lodge on Franklin Street in Huntsville (just north of
the Huntsville Hospital about three blocks).  We meet for an optional meal and socializing at 5:30 p.m.  Meals can be ordered al la carte.  Be sure to check for the “specials”.  We adjourn to attend the meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Elks Lodge ball room
next to the dining area.  Everyone, including guests, are welcome.  We especially encourage students to attend.  We ask everyone to wear a name or visitor tag that is provided at the entrance to the Elk’s Lodge north parking lot.  It allows us to get to know visitors and learn the names of other members we may otherwise not personally know.

We are back “to normal” and conducting meetings in-person.  We keep the seating
spaced and we have had no verified cases of sickness attributable to our meeting.  Additionally, our Technology officer is live-streaming the programs on “DISCORD” for those unable to attend meetings in-person.   It is relatively easy to use and our Technology Officer can help register interested participants online.  We highly encourage participation using “DISCORD” for those unable to attend in person.  Those using it give it great marks for its quality and best of all, it is “free”.  Only paid-up members are eligible to access the programs through “DISCORD”.

We have a number of members who have failed to renew memberships during the Covid pandemic but we encourage everyone to return due to our disease mitigation procedures.  Please bring a friend as membership grows through personal contacts.

Hope to see you at our next meeting!

Bill Goss
President