First Defenders Civil War Round Table of Berks County

The Forgotten Marines: “Prelude to Civil War – Harper’s Ferry, October 1859.”

Dale Lee Sumner passes along the following new historical novel The Forgotten Marines: “Prelude to Civil War – Harper’s Ferry, October 1859.” This novel is available in three formats: Kindle Edition (Digital), Standard Edition (Printed) softcover with 472 pages, and as an… Annotated Edition (Printed) softcover with 520 pages encompassing 220 informational/background annotations, designed to...

Adopt-A-Position 2021 Season Cancelled

Word has been received from the Gettysburg National Military Park that its 2021 Adopt-A-Position has been cancelled as a result of ongoing COVID restrictions and cautions.  GNMP indicated it needed to make the decision for the entire program year because of staffing requirements that would not otherwise be needed. Park officials expressed regret at cancelling...

First Defenders “Shout Out” During Perilous Times

The original First Defenders became a subject of interest as a result of the deployment of National Guard troops, including many from Pennsylvania, to provide security in Washington, D.C. following last week’s violent intrusion into the United States Capitol building and in advance of next week’s presidential inauguration. It apparently came to someone’s attention that...

January Program Still on Track

As 2020 winds down to a welcome close, the First Defenders are ready to move into the second half of their 24th Campaign.  With restaurants scheduled to resume normal operations on January 4th, the year-opening program and meeting is scheduled for January 12th at Giannotti’s Country Restaurant. The program for the month will be presented...

December Program Change

The December program for the First Defenders Civil War Round Table is scheduled for Tuesday, December 8th, at Giannotti’a Country Restaurant with dinner being served at 6:30 PM and the business meeting and program getting underway at about 7:30. Due to an ongoing inability to confirm arrangements with our planned speaker, long-time member Denton Schucker...

Presidents at Gettysburg on November 10th

Ever since Abraham Lincoln journeyed to the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg to deliver his immortal address, millions of ordinary Americans have made a similar pilgrimage.  Many of the early visitors were soldiers returning to the scenes of their youth or their descendants over the ensuring generations.  And among those millions were more than a few...

A Great Man Has Gone Home…

By now the word has gone forth that one of the greatest historians of modern times has left his earthly trials to spend eternity with those whose lives and times he brought to life in great detail to untold thousands of enthralled audiences on the battlefields, in the conference centers, on television and in print. ...

We’re Back! The 24th Campaign Begins on September 8th!

It has been a difficult (and different!) spring and summer.  Our 23rd Campaign was brought to an early end by COVID-19, and our April and May programs were necessarily cancelled (but, both Phil Greenwalt and Tom Huntington are on this year’s schedule!) We will kick off our 24th Campaign on September 8th at Giannotti’s Country...

May Programs Scrubbed by a Bug!

The pesky COVID-19 bug has proven sufficiently resilient to preclude public gatherings into the merry month of May.  Sadly, this has led to a cancellation of our regular May 12th program, “Joe’s Jaunt” on May 16th and the Adopt-A-Position initiative on May 28th. Check the May Newsletter for additional details!