Everyone is welcome at our monthly meetings

NOTICE: We've been moved back (by the hotel chain) to the Holiday Inn Oakbrook for our meetings. Meetings for the 2024-25 Year will be in-person, but will also be simulcast on Zoom. Zoom details for each meeting will be emailed to members via the newsletter.


September 13th
John Horn on The Wilson-Kautz Raid, June-July 1864

Grant wasted no time after his Petersburg assaults of June 15-18, 1864, failed to capture the city. He launched his second offensive against Petersburg hours later. Among other things, he sent his cavalry on a raid to cut the Confederate railroads south of Petersburg. This would slow any reinforcements sent from the south and west to the enemy at Petersburg and Richmond. Grant also hoped that in case his infantry failed in its mission a lack of provisions would force the foe to abandon those cities.

But at Petersburg Grant faced Lee and not Floyd as at Fort Donelson in 1862 or Pemberton as at Vicksburg in 1863. Lee, his cavalry commander Hampton, and Mahone smashed Grant's cavalry raiders at the battles of Sappony Church and First Reams Station.

Born and reared in Chicago, John Horn has practiced law there since 1976. He has written three books and co-edited another about Petersburg, Virginia's soldiers, and the siege of that city. His most recent book, The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1861 (Savas Beatie), won the 2019 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. He has published articles in Civil War Times Illustrated, America's Civil War, Gettysburg Magazine, and North and South Magazine. He blogs at johnhorncivilwarauthor.blogspot.com.

For our 2024-2025 program year, we proudly welcome these outstanding speakers:

Sept. 13th: John Horn on "The Wilson-Kautz Raid, June-July 1864"
Oct. 11th: Larry Hewitt on "The Birth of Combat Photography"
Nov. 8th: Kent Masterson Brown on "General Meade at Gettysburg and Lee's Retreat"
Dec. 13th: Jon Sebastian on "We Are All in This War--the Northern Home Front"
Jan. 10th, 2025: Bjorn Skaptason on "Shiloh"
Feb. 14th: Hampton Newsome on "Gettysburg's Southern Front"
Mar. 14th: Gerry Prokopowicz on TBA
Apr. 9th (Wednesday): Phil Spaugy on "The 19th Indiana and the Iron Brigade"
May 9th: Steve Phan on "Asian and Pacific Islanders During the Civil War"
June 13th: Dave Powell (Nevins-Freeman Award) on "Lost Opportunities in the Atlanta Campaign"

Our meetings are held at: