Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog

There are a few events coming up on my speaking schedule that I’d like to share with you.

On October 23-25, my blockade-runner book will be part of the Book Festival at the Texas Archaeological Society annual meeting in Houston. My presentation will be Saturday, the 24th, at 9 a.m. There will be several interesting authors there, including Roger Moore and Douglas Mangum, who will be presenting on a edited collection that they contributed to, The Archaeology of Engagement: Conflict and Revolution in the United States:

Dana L. Pertermann and Holly Kathryn Norton have assembled a collection of studies that includes sites of conflicts between groups of widely divergent cultures, such as Robert E. Lee’s mid-1850s campaign along the Concho River and the battles of the River Raisin during the War of 1812. Notably, the second half of the book applies the editors’ principles of conflict-event theory to the San Jacinto Battlefield in Texas, forming a case study of one of America’s most storied—and heavily trafficked—battle sites.

I’ve never known much about Lee’s military campaigning in Texas before the Civil War, so this should be informative. Roger has been a lead archaeologist on the Battle of San Jacinto, and a few years back located what is believed to be the site of Colonel Almonte’s surrender. I’m looking forward to hearing more about that, as well.

On December 10, I’ll be speaking at the Houston Civil War Round Table on the intersecting blockade activities of Captain Dave McClusky and U.S. Navy Acting Ensign Paul Börner. It should be great fun. The HCWRT is a low-key group, but they have some great speakers and I’m honored to be part of their schedule this season. Other speakers this season include Ed Bearss, Caroline Janney, Gary Joiner, and Sam Hood.

Then, on Saturday morning, December 12, I’ll be speaking at the History Center for Aransas County in Rockport on the blockade-running activities on the Texas coast, particularly around the Aransas Pass area. I was able to get a little of that in the book, but there’s probably a lot more to tell.

It should all be great fun.

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