Category: Rick Britton

Rick Britton

Regular listeners of our podcast or our live streaming feed might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.

On Wednesday, May 20th, Rick Britton himself gave a presentation on the June 11–12, 1864, Battle of Trevilian Station fought in Louisa County, Virginia. Often called the Civil War’s "largest all-cavalry battle," Trevilians pitted Union Gen. Philip Sheridan—that "bandy-legged Irishman"—and his 9,300 cavalrymen against Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton, perhaps the South’s wealthiest plantation owner, in command of about 6,700. The Southern victory saved Charlottesville from "Little Phil’s" raiders and made quite a name for Hampton.

This is part two of a seven part series. The event is held every third Wednesday at the Charlottesville Senior Center.

Regular listeners of our podcast or our live streaming feed might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.

On October 15th, 2008, one of the speakers —Ronald G. Wilson— appeared at the Senior Center to talk about the fascinating one-week-long Appomattox Campaign (April 2nd–9th, 1865). Following the Battle of Five Forks on April 1st—at which Union Gen. Philip Sheridan smashed a Confederate force under Gen. George Pickett—and the next day’s successful puncturing of the attenuated Southern trench lines around Petersburg, Gen. Robert E. Lee evacuated Petersburg and Richmond. Gathering his 57,000 men at Amelia Court House, 30 miles southwest of Richmond—where, unfortunately, there were no rations awaiting them—Lee pushed his army westward toward Farmville, Appomattox Court House, and destiny. Along the route actions were fought at Amelia Springs, Sailor’s Creek, and High Bridge.

Recently retired, Ron Wilson served as the park historian at Appomattox Court House for 25 years. A frequent Civil War lecturer, he is the author (along with William G. Nine) of The Appomattox Paroles: April 9–15, 1865.

Regular listeners of our podcast or our live streaming feed might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.

On September 20th, 2008, one of the speakers —Bill Bergen— appeared at the Senior Center to talk about the June 1864 through March 1865 Siege of Petersburg, Virginia. This fascinating nine-month-long siege operation—which pitted Robert E. Lee’s 60,000-man Army of Northern Virginia against U.S. Grant’s force of 120,000 — featured numerous large-scale actions including the famous Battle of the Crater (on 30 July), the Assault on Ft. Stedman (on 25 March), the Battle of Five Forks (on 1 April), and the following day’s Breakthrough Attack led by Union Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright. Bill Bergen has been a student of the Civil War since learning about Abraham Lincoln in the first grade. Bill is an assistant dean at the U.Va. School of Law, and, as far as he knows, the only graduate of Vassar College to become a Civil War military historian. He has led numerous battlefield tours, lectured widely on the Civil War, and is a regular instructor at U.Va. annual Civil War conference. Author of "The Other Hero of Cedar Creek: The ‘Not Specially Ambitious’ Horation G. Wright," he is currently working on a study of the relationship of politics to generalship in the
Army of the Potomac.