Musters – Events
The First Defenders meet at 6:30 PM on the second Tuesday of each month from September through May. Meetings include dinner and a speaker who may be a guest or a member. Meetings are held at Giannotti’s Country Restaurant on Pricetown Road in Alsace Manor, and will also be provided virtually for members who are unable to attend due to COVID-19 concerns.
A book raffle is held each month with all proceeds donated to battlefield preservation, and members who attend virtually will have the opportunity to participate even if they cannot attend a program.
Guests and new members are welcome. Space is limited in the restaurant, so please contact a board member or the First Defenders by email (see the Regimental Staff page).
MEMBERS ONLY! Sign up to attend the upcoming event!
Race to the Potomac: Meade's Pursuit & Lee's Retreat
featuring Brad Gottfried
The nation held its breath for eleven days after the Battle of Gettysburg. Would Meade be able to destroy Lee’s beaten army or would it escape to Virginia to fight anothe
r day? Would Lee's wagon trains filled with supplies and the wounded safely reach the Potomac River, despite the marauding Union cavalry? This stimulating presentation follows the activities and exploits of each army as they make their way to the Potomac River after the battle. The presentation will also consider whether Meade was too slow, whether Lee conducted an effective retreat, and whether Lincoln was justified in his frustration with Meade.
Bradley Gottfried was born and raised in Philadelphia and, after receiving his 
Ph.D. in zoology, he embarked on a 40-year career in higher education. He retired in 2017 as the president of the College of Southern Maryland, and has written 17 books and numerous magazine articles pertaining to the Civil War. Although perhaps best known for his campaign "map books," Brad has also written on Gettysburg, the Point Lookout prisoner of war camp and the Hope Antietam paintings. He is an Antietam Certified Battlefield Guide and a Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide. Brad and his wife, Linda, live in Fayetteville.
12 Decisions Effecting the Battle of Shiloh
featuring Greg Mertz
"Attack at daylight and whip them" —that was the Confederate plan on the morning of April 6, 1862, as the unsuspecting Union Army of the Tennessee gathered on the banks of its namesake river at a spot called Pittsburg Landing, ready to strike deep into 
the heart of Tennessee. Confederates, commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston, planned to take the fight to the Federals by attacking at daylight and driving them into the river. A brutal day of fighting ensued, unprecedented in its horror -- the devil’s own day, one union officer admitted -- as darkness settled over the surreal scene. The next morning, though, it would be the Union army that would attack at daylight with the intention of whipping the Confederates. The bloodshed that resulted from the two-day battle exceeded anything America had ever known in its history, and this program will focus on twelve decisions that effected events at Shiloh turning a Southern surprise into a Northern victory.
Greg Mertz retired after 40 years with the National Park Service, the final 36 at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. Greg grew up on the
Shiloh battlefield, hiking its trails and exploring its fields. His most recent book, "Attack at Daylight and Whip Them" taps into five decades of intimate familiarity with a battle that shocked a broken nation and rewrote America’s notions of war.
