Category: Rick Britton

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The Army’s Other Eyes and Ears: The Topographical Engineers

Dale Floyd speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On March 19, 2015, Dale Floyd presented the first lecture in a new six part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2015).

“The army regulations stipulated that the topographical engineers were to make such surveys and exhibit such delineations as the commanding general shall direct, to make plans of all military positions which the army may occupy and of their respective vicinities indicating the various roads, rivers, creeks, ravines, hills, woods and villages to be found therein,” says Floyd in this interesting podcast.

Born in Dayton Ohio, Mr. Floyd received his BS in education from Ohio University and an MA in history from the University at Dayton. He also completed additional history post graduate work at American University and at the University of Virginia. He has written nine books on military history. Mr. Floyd has been an archivist at the National Archives, and an historian with the US Army Core of Engineers and the National Park Service. As a military historian Mr. Floyd specializes in military architecture, military education and 19th century military history.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here to listen to all six parts of this series.

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Modern Memory and Material Culture

Beth Parnicza speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On April 17, 2014, Beth Parnicza presented the fifth and final lecture in our Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2014).

How does a culture view its past and how does it present itself through a museum forum? How do we understand a society through its museum exhibits? This and many other questions on how we perceive the American Civil War are answered in this interesting podcast.

Beth Parnicza is an historian with the National Parks Service at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park where she supervises the Chancellorsville Battlefield Center and manages volunteers and social media. A 2011 graduate of West Virginia University, her research interests focus largely on the human element of the Civil War, particularly in understanding the steps taken by individuals toward a harder kind of war and their motivations to do so.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here to listen to all five parts of this series.

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African American Faces of the Civil War

Ron Coddington speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On April 10, 2014, Ron Coddington presented the forth lecture in our five part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2014).

Images of African Americans who fought in the American Civil War are very rare. In this podcast, Mr. Coddington talks about some of those men whose portraits he documented in his book African American Faces of the Civil War: An Album.

Ron Coddington is the assistant manager at Chronicle of Higher Education whose work has appeared in USA Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the San Hose Mercury News. Mr. Coddington is a contributing writer to the New York Times disunion series, and writes a monthly column for The Civil War News.

In addition to African American Faces of the Civil War: An Album, Mr. Coddington has written two other books, Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories, and Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here to listen to all five parts of this series.

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Whizzbangs and Inventions in the Civil War

Rick Britton speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On April 3, 2014, Rick Britton presented the third lecture in our five part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2014).

It has been said that the Civil War was the last of the Napoleonic Wars and the first truly modern war. Although much of the technology used in the American Civil War had been previously invented, it was the first war to see the widespread use of such technology.

In this podcast Mr. Britton explains how balloons and submarines were used in the war. Rick also talks about The Turtle and The Alligator and gives an account of one idea that went terribly wrong, Torpedo Mules.

Portions of Mr. Britton’s lecture were based on the book Arms and Equipment of the Civil War by Jack Coggins. Click here to view the illustrations used in this podcast.

Rick Britton is a historian of the Old Dominion who specializes in 18th- and 19th-century Virginia history. Two of his main areas of expertise are the American Civil War and the life and times of our third president, Thomas Jefferson. Along with his writing, Rick conducts tours of Civil War battlefields, teaches classes on the history of central Virginia, organizes history programming for the Senior Center in Charlottesville, and illustrates maps for history books, and lectures all across Virginia on a wide range of topics. With over 200 published articles and essays under his belt, he’s the author of Albemarle & Charlottesville: An Illustrated History and Jefferson: A Monticello Sampler for which he was awarded a medal for non-fiction at New York City’s Book Expo, the nation’s largest book convention.

The lecture was presented by Rick Britton as a part of this series held in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Click here to listen to all five parts of this series.

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Dances With Soldiers in the Civil War

Susan Wiesner speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On March 20, 2014, Susan Wiesner presented the second lecture in a new five part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2014).

In Western cultures social dance has been an important component in defining society and class structure since the Renaissance. According to Wiesner, strict rules applied to both male and female dancers of the time, although following the commencement of the Civil War soldiers were permitted to bring their swords into the ballroom. For some soldiers, dance was a form of therapy.

In this podcast, Wiesner talks about the popular dances of the time including the well known Virginia Reel and their place in the context of the Civil War.

Susan Wiesner obtained her undergraduate degree at Goucher College in Kentucky, and her Masters and PhD in England. She is a former dance and drama instructor at the University of Virginia. She now has a studio at the McGuffey Art Center and does research on the intersection of language and movement.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here to listen to all five parts of this series.

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The Lost Generation

Shannon Moeck speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On March 13, 2014, Shannon Moeck presented the first lecture in a new five part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2014).

Of the 151 men of the Pelican Rifles of Louisiana that left their community to serve in the Civil War, 119 did not return. Of the 32 soldiers who survived, 31 were wounded, meaning that only a single young man came back physically unharmed. Companies raised from a single community often resulted in the loss of an entire generation of young men.

Shannon Moeck is a park ranger at Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park. After attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and spending a decade there as a music promoter and a retail manager, she moved back to the Shenandoah Valley where she attended Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown VA. Her passion for history was re-ignited when she took a world civilization history class. Ms. Moeck joined the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove staff as a seasonal hire during the park’s inaugural season as an interpreter in 2010 and completed her dual degrees in the spring of 2013. She is now a full time permanent ranger on the team. Currently Ms. Moeck’s responsibilities include interpretation, volunteer management, web site management, social media co-ordination, and is assisting in the development of the park.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here to listen to all five parts of this series.

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Women & War: The Strange Career of Union Spy Elizabeth Van Lew

Elizabeth Varon speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On Thursday, April 11, 2013, Elizabeth Varon presented the sixth and final lecture in our Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2013).

Ms. Varon’s presentation begins with the interesting story of how many women, disguised as men, served in both the northern and southern armies during the American Civil War and their fate if caught.

Varon then moved on to the remarkable story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a southerner, who became the Postmaster at Richmond, VA, and a Union spy.

Elizabeth Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor in American History at the University of Virginia. She received her masters degree from Swarthmore College and her PHD from Yale. She has held key positions at Wesley College and Temple University and is a specialist in the Civil War era of the 19th century American south. Ms. Varon is the author of We Mean to Be Counted: White Women and Politics in Antebellum Virginia and Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy. She was won the Lillian Smith Book Award of the Southern Regional Council, The People’s Choice Award from the Library of Virginia, and the Richard Slatten Award from the Virginia Historical Society. Her newest book is Disunion!: The Coming of the American Civil War, 1789-1859.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here listen all six parts of this series.

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The Battlefield Photography of Dr. Reed B. Bontecou

John Cummings speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville

On Thursday, March 28, 2013, John Cummings presented the forth lecture in our six part Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2013).

In this podcast Cummings talks about photography during the Civil War. Listen to the story Dr. Reed Bontecou, an army surgeon who took it upon himself to photograph the effects of war on the human body. You’ll also hear the story of G. O. Brown and how he “acquired” the many Civil War photographs that bear his name.

John Cummings is considered to be an expert on photography in the Civil War. His blog discusses the social, political and cultural aspects of the American Civil War battles fought in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here listen all six parts of this series.

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Such is War: The Looting of Fredericksburg

Beth Parnicza speaking at the
Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On March 21, 2013, Beth Parnicza presented the third lecture in a our six part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2013).

How does an action like the looting of Fredericksburg reflect on the culture of the army of the Potomac, and of the country at large? How do we think about the looting in the great scheme of battle? How is it that the looting of Fredericksburg can be considered a form of victory? These and many more questions are answered in this interesting podcast.

Beth Parnicza is an historian with the National Parks Service at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park where she supervises the Chancellorsville Battlefield Center and manages volunteers and social media. A 2011 graduate of West Virginia University, her research interests focus largely on the human element of the Civil War, particularly in understanding the steps taken by individuals toward a harder kind of war and their motivations to do so.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following the presentation, questions were taken from the audience.

Click here listen all six parts of this series.

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Geology and Some Civil War Battlefields

Richard Nicholas speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On March 14, 2013, Richard Nicholas presented the second lecture in our new six part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2013).

Finding the high ground was important to Civil War commanders for many reasons. Listen as Nicholas explains the role that this and other geological features played in the outcome of the war.

Richard L. Nicholas is a native Virginian and UVA graduate. He obtained his graduate degree from the University of Kansas. Richard has worked for Shell Oil as a geologist where he rose to the rank of chief geologist by the time of his retirement in 1991.

Richard has had a life long interest in Virginia history, especially the Civil War and has written two books, in the Virginia Regimental History series. He has written numerous articles for The Magazine of Albermarle County History. Mr. Nicholas recently completed a new book, Sheridan’s James River Campaign of 1865 Through Central Virginia.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here listen all six parts of this series.

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Moving Dirt: The Evolution of Fieldworks

Dale Floyd speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

On March 7, 2013, Dale Floyd presented the first lecture in a new six part CPN Thursday series entitled The Civil War Through Different Lenses (2013).

Henry Halleck defined fieldworks as “the art of disposing the ground in such a manner as to enable a small number of troops to resist a larger army the longest time possible.” According to Floyd, creating such fortifications was often difficult work. “To the scarcity of entrenching tools, many of the men were obliged to use their sabre bayonets, tin plates, and in some cases merely their hands to scrape up the dirt for the breastworks.” says Floyd in this podcast.

Dale Floyd studied at Ohio University and the University at Dayton. He has written nine books on military history. Mr. Floyd has been an archivist at the National Archives, and an historian with the US Army Core of Engineers and the National Park Service.

The lecture series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

Click here listen all six parts of this series.

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Central Virginia Railroads in the 19th Century

Rick Britton speaking at the Senior Center in Charlottesville

On Thursday, September 27, 2012, Rick Britton presented the fourth and final lecture in our series entitled “Virginia History 301: The Old Dominion in Antebellum Times.”

The date is June 27, 1850 when the very first train rolled into Charlottesville, says Britton, in this fascinating podcast. Rail passengers of time could travel from Richmond, VA to Charlottesville in just 12 hours, says Britton. Listen as he tells the story of the early railroads of central Virginia, and of Claudius Crozet, the brilliant engineer who created the world’s longest tunnel through the Blue Ridge mountains.

Britton, an award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer organized the series in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.

This is the fourth and final part of this series. Click here listen all four parts.