The September meeting of the Rufus Barringer Civil War Round Table will be held at 7:00pm on Thursday, September 19th, at the Southern Pines Civic Club on the corner of Pennsylvania and Ashe St. Socializing begins at 6:30pm.

The special guest speaker will be historian Zachary Pittard, and the title of his presentation is “One of the Most Brilliant Affairs of the War: The Battle of Staunton River Bridge and a Reevaluation of the Wilson-Kautz Raid.” This sometimes called the Battle of Old Men and Young Boys.

Early in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, a 5000-man Union cavalry force with 16 pieces of artillery left Petersburg on June 22, 1864 on a raid designed to disrupt Confederate railroad lines that brought supplies to R.E. Lee’s army. One of the targets was the railroad bridge over the Staunton River near Roanoke Station on the Richmond and Danville Railroad. Was this a bridge too far?

Pittard, a native of Southside Virginia, has worked in public history for nearly 12 years. While a student at Longwood University, he interned at Sailor’s Creek Battlefield and this led him to a career in parks and museums that included Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier. He completed his Masters Degree in History from Virginia Commonwealth University. He serves as a board member for the Appomattox-Petersburg Preservation Society and currently works at Pamplin Historical Park as the Director of Education and Interpretation.

Meetings are open to the public. For more details contact Matt Farina at 910-246-0452 or mafarina@aol.com.  The Rufus Barringer Civil War Round Table is a 501(c)(3), incorporated, non-profit, educational organization. The purpose of the organization is to promote, educate, and further stimulate interest in, and discussion of, all aspects of the Civil War period.