Our 45th Year 
FOR THE MEETING TUESDAY, February 24, 2009
Meets Fourth Tuesday; January-November
Founded March 1964 

Second Presbyterian Church

600 Pleasant Valley Drive

Little Rock 
Program at 7 p.m. 
Online:  www.civilwarbuff.org
Jan Sarna, President 

Rick Meadows, Editor

RMeadows@aaamissouri.com / arcivilwarbuff@gmail.com 
Dues $20 Per Year
VISITORS WELCOME! 
VISIT THE BATTLEFIELDS WHEN YOU CAN...
WHILE YOU CAN

General William J. Hardee

With

Mark Kalkbrenner

Welcome Mark Kalkbrenner 

“Captain” Mark Kalkbrenner, Commander of the Arkansas Division, Sons of the Confederate Veterans, will bring our program Tuesday on General William J. Hardee. Captain Mark is also the Chair of the Southeast Arkansas Civil War Heritage Trail and serves as Treasurer of the Foundation. In addition, Kalkbrenner is Commander of the Patrick R. Cleburne Camp 1433 SCV and Chair of the National Education Committee SCV. On weekends Captain Mark is a living historian with the 1^st Arkansas and 5^th Kansas re-enactor groups.  

Captain Mark is the history teacher at Redfield Junior High and adjunct instructor at the South East Arkansas College in Pine Bluff and at the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections.  

During the summer, Kalkbrenner, enjoys coaching girls’ softball. Captain Mark and his wife, Sally, reside in Pine Bluff and have two daughters: Kayla, a freshman at Henderson State University and Elisabethe, a freshman at White Hall. 

Brian Brown, our treasurer reminds us that since we did not meet last month because of the weather, be sure to bring your membership dues to the meeting. If you are unable to attend please mail your dues with the statement that you will find in this newsletter to him. Thank you for your support! 

The meeting will be held at 7:00 P.M. on Tuesday night, February 24^th, in Little Rock at the Second Presbyterian Church. Hope to see you Tuesday night with “Captain” Mark and General Hardee! 

Rick Meadows

Editor

William Joseph Hardee

(1815-1873)  

(Supplemental Biography From The Confederate Military History)        

Lieutenant-General William J. Hardee was born in Camden county, Georgia, in November, 1815. After receiving a military education at West Point, he entered the army with the class of 1838, as a second-lieutenant of the Second cavalry, and was promoted first-lieutenant in 1839, and served in the Florida war of 1840. He was then sent to Europe by the government as a member of a military commission to study the organization of foreign armies, and in that capacity visited the military school at St. Maur, France.  
       In 1844 he was promoted captain, and in 1846 crossed the Rio Grande with General Taylor. He behaved with gallantry in the Mexican war, was taken prisoner at Curricito, but exchanged, and for his valor at La Hoya was brevetted major. In 1853 his professional accomplishments caused his selection by the secretary of war, for the compilation of a system of infantry tactics, which was adopted in March, 1855. In the following year he returned to his alma mater as a tactics instructor and served as commandant of cadets with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His textbook Rifle and Ligbt Infantry Tactics, or more familiarlyHardee's Tactics, became the standard textbook and was widely used by both sides during the Civil War. In 1861 he resigned this commission and entered the Confederate service as colonel of cavalry March 16th, being assigned to command at Fort Morgan, Ala. On June 17th, he was promoted to brigadier-general, in which rank he organized a brigade of Arkansas regiments, and operated in that State until called with his men across the Mississippi, when he was commissioned major-general and put in command of a division of the army in Kentucky and Tennessee under Albert Sidney Johnston. He led the advance from Corinth in command of the Third army corps, and commanded the first line of attack at Shiloh, where he was wounded, but managed his command with such energy that he was promoted major-general.  
       In the following summer he was put in immediate command of the army of the Mississippi, afterward called the army of Tennessee, and during the Kentucky campaign he commanded the left wing of Bragg's army. In the battle of Perryville he bore a conspicuous part, and he was immediately afterward promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. At the battle of Murfreesboro the left wing under his masterly leadership was successful in the fight, and he was especially commended by General Bragg "for skill, valor and ability."  
       General Hardee had now well earned the exalted rank which he held and a military reputation which was tersely expressed by his soldiers in the cognomen "Old Reliable." In 1863 he was detailed to defend Mississippi and Alabama, but returned to the command of his corps at Chattanooga, and commanded the right wing at Missionary Ridge, where General Thomas declared he was "the most efficient general the Confederacy had on the field." The subsequent maneuver of his troops at Cassville and his masterly retreat in echelon of divisions won the renewed admiration of his opponents. On December 2, 1863, he succeeded General Bragg in command of the army, but soon turned this over to General Polk, who in turn gave place to Gen. J. E. Johnston. Under the latter and his successor, J. B. Hood, he commanded a corps of the army of Tennessee through the Atlanta campaign, taking a prominent part in the fighting at Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, and other points, and particularly at Peach Tree Creek and the battle of July 22d, where he commanded the flank movement against the Federal left wing. His corps was again engaged at Jonesboro and the last fighting of the campaign.  
       In October, 1864, he was assigned to command the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, with the task of collecting at Savannah forces to operate against Sherman's advance. The troops he required were no longer to be found in the South, and by one of the most masterly retreats of the war he evaded Sherman's overwhelming force before Savannah, and withdrew to Charleston and thence to Columbia. At Averysboro, in March, 1865, he punished the enemy effectively, and a few days later he led in the battle of Bentonville the last charge that was made by the Confederacy's war-worn soldiers, and his only son, sixteen years of age, was among the last to fall. In this last battle of the four years, with undiminished spirit, the general, as Johnston has described it, "with his knightly gallantry dashed over the enemy's breastworks on horseback in front of his men." It is told of General Hardee, illustrating his thoroughness as a soldier, that he was the only lieutenant-general who personally inspected the arms and accoutrements of each soldier of his corps. General J. E. Johnston said of him that "he was more capable of commanding twenty thousand men in battle than any other Confederate general." General Hardee died at Wytheville, Va., November 6, 1873, and his remains were interred at Selma, Ala., where he had resided after the war.

Scheduled Speakers in 2009  

Feb Mark Kalkbrenner, Chair SECWHT: General William J. Hardee 

Mar Col. Mark Vlahos, Vice Commander 134^th LRAFB: “U.S. Regulars” 

Apr Terry Winschel, NPS Vicksburg: “I am too late” Joseph E. Johnston and the Fall of Vicksburg 

May Brian Brown: Fort Hudson  

Jun Don Nall, Local historian: “Confederate Cavalier, Nathan Bedford Forest” 

July Drew Hodges, UALR History Professor: TBA 

Aug Ken Barnes, UCA History Professor: Brooks – Baxter War  

Sept C. Fred Williams, UALR History Professor: Albert Pike 

Oct Mark Christ, Ark Dept of Historic Preservation: TBA 

Nov Bill Shea, Professor, UAM: TBA

Civil War Roundtable of Arkansas, Inc

2009 Membership Dues 

Membership dues for 2009 are to be paid now. These monies help to pay for the transportation and lodging costs of our speakers. Printing costs for our newsletter and brochures we have at various locations in Central Arkansas are also supported by your dues. In addition, monies are used for the wayside signs for the Campaign for Little Rock that the CWRT of Arkansas purchases and maintains.  

Additional monetary gifts that you make will be used for preservation efforts for Civil War battlefields and places of historical importance related to the Civil War. 
 

2009 Membership Dues Statement

$20 per year, Make Checks payable to:

The Civil War Roundtable of Arkansas, Inc.

News from Reed’s Bridge

Jacksonville, AR

Steve Shore, project manager, for The Reed’s Bridge Battlefield Preservation Society, has announced workdays in 2009 on the 7 core acres of the Battlefield which is located on Hwy 161, just south of Hwy 294 along the Bayou Meto. Clearing brush, tree saplings, and low hanging limbs is continuing. Relocating the split rail fence is proposed for Saturday, February 21^st. With this clearing, living historians and re-enactors will have more room to set up camp. Land for a “Sutler Village” is also being cleared.  

Plans for 2 log cabins and a barn are being completed and hope to be on site by the end of the year! Bring your work gloves and join the fun in preserving this battlefield. Put these dates on your calendar. Lunch for workers is provided! For additional information, contact Steve at: spflyboy@hotmail.com 

Work Days at Reed’s Bridge

February 21

March 21

April 18

June 6

August 15

September 11-12 (Civil War Encampment)

December 11-12 (Christmas at Reed’s Bridge Homestead) 

Membership into The Reed’s Bridge Battlefield Preservation Society is $25 a year.

Battle Flags at the Old State House Museum

Little Rock, AR  

The Hardee Pattern

Major-General William J. Hardee adopted a flag with a dark blue field and a central "silver moon." The interior circle was soon adapted to an ellipse to accommodate written unit citations. Efforts were made to eliminate the design during the course of the war, but the troops who had fought under it refused to relinquish the standard.

Hope to see you February 24, 2008 at the Civil War Roundtable Meeting!