Everyone is welcome at our monthly meetings.

Attend the dinner and presentation, or just the presentation.

We meet September through June, generally on the second Friday evening of each month. See list of meeting dates and speakers below for our 2010-2011 program year.

November 12, 2010

Robert I. Girardi on:
"The Making of a Corps Commander"

The Nevins-Freeman Award Address November 12, 2010, Chicago, Illinois Past winners of the Chicago CWRT’s prestigious Nevins-Freeman Award include Bruce Catton, Ed Bearss, and last Years winner, Craig Symonds. Rob Girardi is a worthy successor to our CWRT’s distinguished list of awardees.

On November On November 12, 2010 Robert I Girardi will speak on “The Making of a Corps Commander -A study of Corps Command in Civil War armies and the rise of Gouverneur K. Warren to corps command”.

By: Bruce Allardice

The American Civil War was the great battleground upon which the Regular Army of the United States came of age. For the first time, massive deployment of large armies and the logistical and intelligence networks necessary to support them were put into effect. The nature of combat and command in the Civil War necessitated the reorganization of the armies. Brigades and Divisions, previously the largest organizational bodies were replaced by the introduction of army corps for the first time. The solution to the problem was a problem in itself. No officers of the United States Army had ever commanded anything of the size and complexity of an army corps. While it is true that the army gained much practical experience in the Mexican War, that conflict was as nothing in its scope and scale and in the responsibilities it taught to senior commanders, compared to the latter conflict. The largest army in the Mexican War would have been but a weak army corps in the Civil War that followed.f generals rose to command army corps in the Civil War. For some the job was too complex, for others, a steppingstone to army command. On November 12th Rob Girardi will address both the nature of corps command and examine how a number of generals rose or failed to rise to the demands of the job.

Robert I. Girardi lives and works in Chicago, where he is employed as a homicide detective. Rob earned his M.A. in Public History from Loyola University in 1991. He served president of the Chicago CWRT and is currently VP of the Salt Creek CWRT, Rob has spoken at CWRT events throughout the country. He is on the editorial review board of the Illinois State Historical Society Journal and has consulted with the Chicago History Museum on its Civil War exhibits. Rob has authored, coauthored or edited 8 books, including his latest, Gettysburg in Art and Artifacts (2010)



Review by: Jackie Wilson

The 695th meeting of The Chicago Civil War Round Table was a very special meeting. We awarded the annual Nevins-Freeman Award to our very own Robert Girardi, past president of our Round Table and Chicago Homicide detective. In his case he serves twice the city he lives in and the Civil War historical community through his support of the Round Table movement and his writings.sed the massive deployment of large armies and the logistical and intelligence networks necessary to support them and how they were put into effect. The nature of combat and command in the Civil War necessitated the reorganization of the armies. In Europe, the Napoleonic Wars 50 years prior had seen the major European armies introduce army corps composed of two or more infantry divisions. These army corps were designed to be small enough to travel on one road, but large enough to fight a day’s battle on their own. The corps contained cavalry and artillery so that the corps could carry out a variety of tasks. In the Civil War, Brigades and Divisions, previously the largest organizational bodies in the American army, were replaced by the introduction of army corps for the first time.

But how to deal with the problem of commanders for these corps? “The solution to the problem was a problem in itself. No officers of the United States Army had ever commanded anything of the size and complexity of an army corps. While it is true that the army gained much practical experience in the Mexican War, that conflict was as nothing in its scope and scale and in the responsibilities it taught to senior commanders, compared to the latter conflict.” He stated that “The largest army in the Mexican War would have been but a weak corps in the Civil War that followed.” The prewar U.S. army had only 5 generals, only one of whom had ever commanded as many as 10,000 men, all but one so old they’d reached the modern age of retirement.

Besides commanders, one of the biggest problems was identifying just exactly who was who in the field. Eventually badges were created to identify the individual corps, with color coding for the divisions within each corps. Rob had an excellent display of each Corps badge.

Rob went on to discuss both the Union and Confederate Corps commanders abilities, or lack thereof, to actually lead a corps. While most corps commanders served in the prewar army, they served at a junior rank (major, captain) and thus had never led even a brigade. While some made the grade at lower levels of command, not many succeeded at the top level.

See you soon!

For our 2010-2011 program year, we proudly welcome these outstanding speakers:

September 10, 2010       Synopsis        Photos
Wayne Mahood, Ph.D.
"General Wadsworth"

October 8, 2010              Synopsis        Photos
Earl Hess, Ph.D.
"Soldier Life in the Trenches at Petersburg"

November 12, 2010        Synopsis         Photos
Robert Girardi
"Civil War Corps Command: A Study in Leadership"

December 10, 2010        Synopsis
Samuel C. Hyde Jr., Ph.D.
"A Wisconsin Yankee in the Confederate Bayou Country"

January 14, 2011            Synopsis
Lawrence L. Hewitt, Ph.D.
"Slandered Heros: Deserters Who Didn't"

February 11, 2011
Dan Sutherland
"Guerilla War"

March 11, 2011
Susan Boardman
"Gettysburg Cyclorama"

April 8, 2011
Richard M. McMurry, Ph.D.
"TBA"

May 13, 2011
Tom Schott, Ph.D.
"Alexander Stephens"

June 10, 2011
Peter Carmichael, Ph.D.
"TBA"

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