Welcome to the Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg. "The most important Roundtable,
in the most important small town,
at the most important battlefield,
in the most important country in the world."
—Joe Mieczkowski, past president
      
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October 22
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
The October meeting will be live-streamed and NOT a gathering at the GAR Hall or on the Battlefield.
This meeting will be streamed live at the below address:
https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarRoundTableOfGettysburg/live/
You do not need to be a member of FaceBook to view this meeting.
For further instructions on how to sign into the meeting, please view this PDF.
STAFF OFFICERS AND THEIR IMPACT
ON THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
Professor Doug Douds
The Most Active Agents in the Command: MG George Meade’s Aides-de-Camp in the Gettysburg Campaign. This is the story of those officers that belonged to George Meade’s personal staff. By role and relationship, they take orders directly from the general they serve. As stated in the 1862 Army Officer’s Pocket Companion, an aide’s duties are both “difficult and delicate.” In the Gettysburg campaign, most are familiar with the large muscle movements of the Army of the Potomac, but the men who helped expand George Meade’s span of command and control and thought are little known, yet their presence is ubiquitous. Tonight, we will look at a sampling of Meade’s aides, their background, their roles, and their careers after Gettysburg.
PROFESSOR DOUG DOUDS, a native of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, graduated from Wake Forest University in 1990 with Bachelor of Arts Degrees in History and Political Science. He was commissioned an officer of Marines in 1991 and designated a Naval Aviator in 1994.
An F/A-18 pilot, Douds joined a fighter attack squadron assigned to Navy carrier airwings. He completed two deployments flying off the aircraft carriers USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT and ENTERPRISE in support of operations over Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq. Douds held multiple billets while completing Weapons Tactics Instructor’s course (WTI) and the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun).
In 1999, Captain Douds earned top graduate honors from Amphibious Warfare School (AWS) in Quantico, Virginia before returning to MCAS Beaufort, SC. Douds served as Operations Officer, Aircraft Maintenance Officer, and Executive Officer of an F/A-18C squadron, and participated in a 13-month Western Pacific Deployment.
In 2004, Douds checked into Marine Corps Headquarters Aviation at the Pentagon. He served as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Coordinator, aide-de-camp to the Deputy Commandant of Avia-tion, and the F/A-18 and air-to-air missile requirements officer.
Returning to Beaufort, South Carolina in 2007, LtCol Douds took command of VMFA-122. During his tenure, the Werewolves made their first combat deployment in 37 years in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. Upon their return, the squadron won Marine Fighter Attack Squadron of the Year and the CNO’s Safety Award. During his time in aviation, Colonel Douds logged approximately 3,000 flight hours, 135 combat missions, and nearly 350 arrested landings on aircraft carriers.
In 2010, Lt Col Douds earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree as a member of the Advanced Strategic Art Program from the U.S. Army War College. He joined the Joint Staff and served in the Chairman of the Joint Chief’s Chairman’s Action Group (CAG) as a strategist for Admiral Mullen and General Dempsey and as General Dempsey’s senior speechwriter.
Currently, Colonel Douds serves as a U.S. Army War College faculty member teaching the Advanced Strategic Art Program seminar. In the summer of 2017, he joined a team that helped the nation of Georgia craft its first national defense strategy. An avid writer and learner, he spent four years on the editorial board, two as Chairman, for Proceedings Magazine. Presently, he is working on his doctorate in military history from Leeds University in England. He is also a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg.
Colonel Douds lives with his wife and son in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Our meetings are the Fourth Thursday of each month.
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Join or Renew Your Membership |
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OFFICERS |
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Bruce Davis ..............................................President Hilda Koontz............................................Vice President Eleanor Cingire Bilz...........................Recording Secretary Linda Seamon...............................Membership Secretary David Diner...................................................Treasurer Roger Heller .......................................Program Director Linda Joswick .............................................Webmaster Dave Joswick......................................Newsletter Editor Lynn Heller.................................Facebook Administrator |
402.686.6969 717.642.6017 717.420.2183 717.359.7339 717.420.5730 717.398.2072 717.253.5477 717.877.3975 717.398.2072 |
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BOARD MEMBERS |
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Fred Hawthorne (5/22), Roger Heller (5/22), Michele Hessler, Abbie Hoffman, Peter Miele (5/21) , Bill Myers (5/21) |
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Next Board Meeting:Board Meetings are are virtual meetings until it is safe to meet again. Minutes will be posted. |
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COMMITTEES |
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Plaque Committee: Book Award Committee: Field Trip Committee: If you are interested in more information, or joining, one the committees, please contact any Officer or Board Member. |
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EVENT INFORMATION |
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You can view videos of past meetings on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarRoundTableOfGettysburg/live/You do not need to be a member of FaceBook to view the videos. |
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Dear Members and Friends of the Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg,
It occurs to me this will be the first that members without e-mail have heard from us since March. It’s not that we’ve forgotten you; with the print shops closed, we haven’t been able to run off paper copies to send in the mail. Those with whom we communicate electronically have actually heard more from the Round Table than was the pre-Covid norm, as we’ve tried to keep the group consistently apprised of our attempts to navigate this strange passage. If you do have e-mail, but haven’t been receiving the regular updates, it probably means we have no record of your e-address, a situation easily corrected. Just shoot me a message, brdgettysburg@gmail.com, and I’ll direct it to our communications team.
As many of you know, my previous life was spent in the ministry. A passage of scripture seems relevant, Jeremiah 8:20, “the summer has ended, and we are not saved”—at least not from Covid-19. I had very much hoped to return to in-person gatherings this fall. As the GAR Hall would hardly facilitate even minimal social distancing, we’d contacted Gettysburg Presbyterian, figuring we could spread out there. The Presbyterians said they would be happy to have us, but then came the state directive limiting gatherings to no more than 25 people, so we gave up on that option, as well. Bottom line: we’ll be meeting online again in September and October. Frankly, things aren’t looking good for gathering at the Dobbin House in December, but we continue to hold out hope.
This is not to say the online meetings have been a disappointment. Far from it. Each of our scheduled presenters—Mary Turk-Meena, James Broomall, Richard Goedkoop, Jared Frederick and Charlie Fennell—has been entirely supportive and cooperative. Richard, Jared and Charlie were to have led us on the battlefield; and adapting to online presentation surely required a lot of extra preparation on their part. I’m writing this on the morning after Charlie Fennell’s program on the fighting at Culp’s Hill. (This will be remembered, Charlie saying he was unaware of any successful head amputations.) We had viewers turning in from Los Angeles, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, multiple locations in Virginia, and even picked up a new member from Georgia!
Add this: we’ve archived each of these online presentations, easily accessed via our website (cwrtgettysburg.org) or Facebook page. A big shout-out to Pete Miele, who is producing the monthly meetings; and to the communications team of Linda Joswick, Dave Joswick, and Lynn Heller, going over and above to keep the web and Facebook sites updated in the current uncertainty. The Round Table Board has upped the frequency of our meetings, facilitated on Zoom by Michele Hessler.
Elsewhere, you’ll find notice of our online/mail-in election of officers. According to our by-laws, this should have happened at our April meeting. Plan B was to elect when we next gathered in person, but who knows when that will be? As this seems the best we can do, I hope you will understand and participate.
We have not let Covid-19 halt our mission of historical preservation. This spring, we received an appeal from Civil War Trails for new sponsors and, in addition to a donation, have taken responsibility for the Wayside Marker in Littlestown. I’ve been down there a couple of times since; our membership roster includes a number of Littlestown residents, and if any of you would want to volunteer to help with this, let me know.
Treasurer Dave Diner reports our finances are about where they should be for this time of year. I was a little surprised that our insurance bill went up substantially, particularly as we’ve not been meeting in person, but, of course, the bill’s been paid. We are, of course, hopeful most of our membership will reup for the coming year. Surely, at some point, we’ll get back to something approaching normal. In the meantime, please know we want you to stay safe and healthy, and that the Board is doing all we can to keep the Round Table turning.
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SPEAKERS |
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November 12
December 3
January 28
February 25
March 25
April 22
May 27
June 24 (29)
July 22 (29)
Aug 26 (31)
September 23
October 28
November 18
December 2nd (Holiday Banquet)
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News Briefs
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