The October meeting of the Rufus Barringer Civil War Round Table will be held at 7:00pm on Thursday, October 17th at the Civic Club on the corner of Pennsylvania and Ashe St. in Southern Pines. Socializing begins at 6:30pm. The very special guest speaker will be historian and author, Patrick Schroeder, and the title of his presentation is “Forgotten Friday: The April 7th, 1865, Actions in Cumberland County, Virginia.

Largely overlooked owing to the events at Sailor’s Creek on April 6th and at Appomattox on April 9th, 1865, multiple engagements and events occurred in Cumberland County largely overlooked by historians and the public. There are four separate battles resulting in the death, wounding and capture of three generals and the final engagement on the fringe of forcing Lee’s surrender in Cumberland County.  The Gen. Barlow vs. Gen. Gordon fight along the South Side Rail Road, the repulse of Gen. Crook’s cavalry near the Coal Pits, and the 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. battles near Cumberland Church, are all fascinating and horrific in their own right, resulting in hundreds of casualties. Also, the first correspondence delivered between Grant and Lee occurred in Cumberland County.

Civil War Author/Historian Patrick A. Schroeder is the full-time Historian of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. He graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Historical Park Administration from Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV., and has an M.A. in Civil War History from Virginia Tech. His book “Thirty Myths About Lee’s Surrender,” is currently in its twelfth printing. Patrick is also the key organizer of the Longwood University Civil War Conference every year.

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.