From the Brigade Commander: Barry Arnold - March 2020

From the Brigade Commander: Barry Arnold

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The Union League of Philadelphia was founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support the policies of Abraham Lincoln. The Round Table went this past Saturday to visit this place and it was an outstanding tour. The architecture was tremendous with marble floors and stained-glass windows.  They had paintings of civil war generals, admirals, presidents, a statue of Lincoln and busts of generals. If you missed this trip, you missed out on a once in a lifetime tour. I want to thank Jim Duffy for arranging this tremendous tour; it was a tremendous field trip.

Our February meeting, showcased Mr. Scott Mingus who addressed the 2nd Battle of Winchester. This was the pre stage to the battle of Gettysburg. The Confederate army had to travel through Winchester on their way to Pennsylvania. At Winchester, the Union army that defended Winchester was commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy. Mingus describes how General Milroy made a major blunder resulting in a disaster as the Union attempted to defend the city of Winchester. Gen. Milroy abandoned his men and fled the field allowing 4000 men to be taken prisoners and sent to Andersonville Prison.  General Milroy was a disgrace to the Union army. This was an interesting story of the battle.

 In March we will have a special guest speaker. Author Ronald D. Kirkwood is coming to our Round Table. Ron, a retired editor, newspaper and magazine writer will speak on his book, “Too Much for Human Endurance”. This is a book on the George Spangler farm hospital, the army of the Potomac XI Corp hospital, and all its doctors, nurses, and suffering patients. Hope you will come and hear these stories. We hope this inspires you to come with us on April 18 and visit the farm (hospital) while we do some maintenance on the Codori farm.  I hope to see you at the meeting and on our field trip to the Spangler Farm.

Barry