Announcements

2024 Battlefield Tour - Gettysburg See our Battlefield Tour page for more information


Grapeshot

People should check whether the event will be broadcast on Zoom.

2024
May 14th, McHenry County CWRT: Ed Urban on "Charles Rivers Ellet, the Queen of the West and the USS Indianola"
May 14th, Southwest Michigan CWRT: Mike Dumke on "Come on Your Wolverines!"
May 18th, Salt Creek CWRT: Bob Presman in "God is on Our Side: Religion in the Civil War"
May 19th, Northwest Indiana CWRT: Doug Dammann on "If a Collection Could Talk"
May 21st, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: Brian Conroy on "Little Egypt in The Civil War"
May 23rd, South Suburban CWRT: Bruce Allardice on "Loose Lips: Secrecy in the Civil War"
June 3rd, Rock Valley CWRT: Bob Pressman on "Religion in the Civil War"
June 7th, Northern Illinois CWRT: Diana Dretske on "The Bonds of War: the 96th Illinois"
June 11th, McHenry County CWRT: Bob Pressman on "John Brown, Hero or Terrorist? Martyr or Madman?"
June 11th, Southwest Michigan CWRT: Rob Girardi on "The Midwest Fights the Civil War"
June 14th, Chicago CWRT: Tim Smith (Nevins-Freeman Award) on "Grierson's Raid"
June 18th, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: Steve Alban on "The Election of 1860"
June 22nd, Lincoln Symposium at Cantigny
July 1st, Rock Valley CWRT: Bjorn Skaptason "Illinois Light Artillery Batteries at the Battle of Atlanta"
July 9th, McHenry County CWRT: Jerry Allen on "And Then He was a Lion: Major General James Steedman"
July 16th, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: Diana Dretske on "The Bonds of War: the 96th Illinois"
Aug. 5th, Rock Valley CWRT: Rob Girardi on "Civil War Engineers"
Aug. 13th, McHenry County CWRT: TBD
Aug. 20th, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: Dennis Doyle on "Illinois Regiments at Gettysburg"
Aug. 22nd, South Suburban CWRT: Father Bob Miller, topic TBA
Aug. 24th, Chicago CWRT Executive Committee Meeting, at "Camp Girardi"
Sept. 6th, Northern Illinois CWRT: Leslie Goddard, topic TBA
Sept. 9th, Rock Valley CWRT: Dwight Hughes on "The Battle of Hampton Roads"
Sept. 10th, McHenry County CWRT: Rob Girardi on "Rank Discord"
Sept. 10th, Southwest Michigan CWRT: Curt Fields as "President Grant"
Sept. 13th, Chicago CWRT: Bjorn Skaptason, topic TBA
Sept. 14th, Great Lakes Civil War Forum at Kenosha Museum
Sept. 17th, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: John Hopkins on "The Gettysburg Reunion of 1913"
Sept. 21st, DuPage Civil War Memorabilia Show
Sept. 26th, South Suburban CWRT: John Horn on "Grant Lays Siege to Lee: Petersburg"
Oct. 4th, Northern Illinois CWRT: Charlie Banks on "General Herman Haupt"
Oct. 7th, Rock Valley CWRT: TBA
Oct. 8th, McHenry County CWRT: Don Hatch on "Custer, His Rebel Buddy, Harpers Ferry and John Yates Beall"
Oct. 8th, Southwest Michigan CWRT: "Major Delaney"
Oct. 11th, Chicago CWRT: Larry Hewitt on "The Birth of Combat Photography"
Oct. 15th, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: Alex Rossino on "Calamity at Fredericksburg"
Oct. 16th, Salt Creek CWRT: John Horn on "Grant Lays Siege to Lee: Petersburg"
Oct. 24th, South Suburban CWRT: Phil Spaugy on "The 19th Indiana Regiment During the Civil War"
Nov. 1st, Northern Illinois CWRT: Doug Stiles on "Lincoln's Watch"
Nov. 4th, Rock Valley CWRT: Douglas Egerton on "Thunder at the Gates"
Nov. 8th, Chicago CWRT: Kent Masterson Brown on TBA
Nov. 12th, McHenry County CWRT: Bruce Allardice on "'Loose Lips;' Military Secrecy in the Civil War"
Nov. 12th, Southwest Michigan CWRT: TBD
Nov. 21st, South Suburban CWRT: No meeting
Dec. 2nd, Rock Valley CWRT: Dan Weinberg on "Dealing in Historical Artifacts"
Dec. 6th, Northern Illinois CWRT: Dave Oberg on "The 1st Illinois Light Artillery"
Dec. 10th, McHenry County CWRT: Derrick Lindow on "Partisan Warfare in Western Kentucky in 1862" (zoom only)
Dec. 13th, Chicago CWRT: Jon Sebastian on TBA
Dec. 17th, Lincoln-Davis CWRT: Chuck Rebesco on "Last Man Standing--20th Indiana at Gettysburg"
Dec. __, South Suburban CWRT: Holiday Party, date TBA
Jan. 3rd, 2025: Northern Illinois CWRT: Gordon Ramsey on "Civil War Music"
Jan. 10th, Chicago CWRT: Brian Butka on "Col. Albert Myer, Founder of the Signal Corps"
Jan. 23rd, South Suburban CWRT: Charlie Banks, topic TBA
Jan. 25th, Chicago CWRT Executive Committee Meeting, at "Camp Girardi"
Feb. 7th, Northern Illinois CWRT: Father Bob Miller on "Civilian Life in Vicksburg"
Feb. 14th, Chicago CWRT: Hampton Newsome on "Gettysburg's Southern Front"
Feb. 27th, South Suburban CWRT: Dennis Doyle on "Cold Harbor--1864"
Mar. 14th, Chicago CWRT: Gerry Prokopowicz on TBA
Mar. 27th, South Suburban CWRT: Andy Partak and Tim Marcus on "Camp Goodell"
Apr. 12th, Chicago CWRT: Peter Carmichael on "War and the Common Soldier"
Apr. 24th, South Suburban CWRT: Phil Angelo on "The Lost Cause and Confederate Defeat"
May 9th, Chicago CWRT: Steve Phan on TBA
May 22nd, South Suburban CWRT: Charlie Rebesco, topic TBA
June 13th, Chicago CWRT: Dave Powell (Nevins-Freeman Award) on TBA

Speakers Bureau
Looking for a good presentation on the Civil War for your library, school, historical society, or civic group? The Coalition of CWRTs of Northern Illinois has put together a Speakers Bureau to help you find one.

Best of all, most presentations are FREE!! Click here for a Speaker Registry printable list, with details and contact information.

House Divided Series
Bjorn Skaptason at the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop reminds us of their series of Civil War talks. For more information on these and upcoming events, visit Abraham Lincoln Bookshop.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please Contact Us