Chambersburg Seminar In Sept. On Lee’s Life, Career
(September 2010 Civil War News)

 CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — The Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce’s last Civil War seminar of the year will begin on Sept. 24. “Lee: An Examination of One of America’s Great Commanders,” will conclude Sept. 26. Seminar proceeds benefit preservation.

 Ted Alexander, chief historian at Antietam National Battlefield, is seminar host. He said the seminar features some of the top Lee scholars and will examine various aspects of his life and military career

On Sept. 24 Richard Sommers, senior historian at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, will analyze what went right and wrong at Gettysburg. Peter Carmichael, director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, will examine why Lee used aggressive tactics throughout the war.

Ed Bearss will lead the Sept. 25 bus tour of lesser-known area sites associated with Lee and his commanders, as well as Gettysburg Battlefield.

Sessions on Sept. 26 will include an examination of Lee’s political and social heritage and how his political views shaped his decision to resign from the U.S. Army in 1861. Historian Tom Clemens will discuss Lee’s successes and failures in Maryland in 1862. Sommers will cover “Lee and Grant at Petersburg.” There also will be a panel discussion. 

The seminar will be based at Four Points Sheraton in Chambersburg and receives sponsorship support from the Franklin County Visitors Bureau.

Next year’s seminar series will feature “Jackson in the Lower Valley: Spring and Summer 1861,” with historians Ed Bearss and Dennis Frye on May 13-14; “First Blood: Manassas and Balls Bluff,” featuring Bearss and other historians, July 27-30; and “The Opening Guns” with Bearss and other historians, Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

To register and for information about the Lee seminar, or any others, call seminar coordinator Cindy Baker at (717) 264-7101. Seminar costs vary depending on the sessions attended. Price includes motor coach transportation for guided tours, seminar materials and some meals.

The Chambersburg Civil War Seminars and Tours brochure with the full schedule and costs is at www.chambersburgcivilwarseminars.org.