Monthly Archives: January 2025

Meeting of January 28, 2025

Join us at 6:30 PM, January 28, at Jack’s Restaurant & Bar, located at the Northwest corner of the Westgate Shopping Mall in San Jose, near Campbell (1502 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129) and via ZOOM. This month’s topic is

Ron Vaughan on “The Battle of Little Round Top: More Than Just Chamberlain!”

Most of the research that has been performed regarding the Battle for Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg has focused primarily on the actions of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Even the 1993 movie, Gettysburg concentrated its scenes on the actions of Chamberlain and his 20th Maine. In actuality, Little Round Top was successfully defended by a brigade under Colonel Strong Vincent, who was mortally wounded during the fighting and died five days later. Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren climbed Little Round Top and found only a small Signal Corps station there. He saw the glint of bayonets in the sun to the southwest and realized that a Confederate assault into the Union flank was imminent. He hurriedly sent staff officers, including Washington Roebling, to find help from any available units in the vicinity; Vincent’s brigade was dispatched to take control of Little Round Top. The presentation will focus on how all four of the regiments under Vincent’s command successfully defended Little Round Top

Ron Vaughan has an MA in History and a Secondary Teaching Credential. His MA thesis was entitled “A Comparison of the Military Effectiveness of the US Army and Mexico, in 1846.” He has written two published books: Viva Juarez, A Source Book for the French Intervention in Mexico, and Handbook for the Spanish Civil War, plus many magazine articles in military history related publications, most recently “Joe Shelby’s Odyssey in Mexico” in the “North & South” December 2022 issue. Ron has also been a re-enactor for periods of Roman times, American Civil War, WW I, and WW II. He is the Head Docent at the Tulare City Historical Museum and Secretary and Editor for the San Joaquin Valley Civil War Roundtable.

Quiz for January 28, 2025

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Little Known Facts of the Civil War?

Q#1 – What were the nicknames that President Abraham Lincoln used to refer to Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis?

Q#2 – Jefferson Davis served as a member of the US House of Representatives, a US Senator on two separate occasions and as the President of the Confederate States. What was common regarding all three of these?

Q#3 – Regarding the number people who earned the Medal of Honor, which war had the most medals awarded?

Q#4 – What piece of evidence led some people to believe that Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered the assassination of President Lincon?

Q#5 – John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Lincoln was part of a broader conspiracy. What other actions were planned to be executed on April 14, 1865?

Q#6 – What foreign city did the Confederate Secret Service take refuge in during the Civil War?

Q#7 – What item on a pair of military pants was invented by the US Army?

Q#8 – During the Civil War era, it was commonly thought that firing a cannon over water would do what?

Q#9 – Approximately how many soldiers died of disease in the Civil War?

Q#10 – True or False: Only white people were slave holders?

Q#11 – What medical unit did Union General George B. McClellan create?

Q#12 – What was the purpose for creating the U.S. Sanitary Commission?

Q#13 – Other than carrier pigeons, what animal did the Confederate Arny use to deliver message??

Q#14 – During the Battle of Gettysburg, a group of gathered intelligence for the Union army. They posed as Confederate sympathizers and used their social networks to gather information about Confederate troop movements and plans. This information was then passed along to Union commanders, who used it to their advantage on the battlefield. What was the name given to this group of women?

Q#15 – During the Civil War, what was the monthly pay for a Black soldier?

Meeting of February 25, 2025

Join us at 6:30 PM, February 25, at Jack’s Restaurant & Bar, located at the Northwest corner of the Westgate Shopping Mall in San Jose, near Campbell (1502 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129) and via ZOOM. This month’s topic is

Tom Roza on “John Buford—A Forerunner of Mechanized Warfare Tactics”

John Buford possessed an amazing ability to grasp the importance of a situation. Buford displayed a keen ability to recognize where the good ground was, and knew what his role was. These were all critical components that eventually enabled Buford to become a critical element in the Union victory at Gettysburg. John Buford left an enduring imprint on 19th century mounted operations, a precursor of the mobile mechanized warfare of today. And once he achieved high rank, Buford almost single-handedly overturned the practice, prevalent in virtually every theater of operations, to cast the mounted forces of the Union in the mold of European heavy cavalry.

Tom Roza has been a student of the American Civil War since December 1960 when he received as a Christmas present The Golden Book of the Civil War, adapted for young readers from the book entitled the American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War. Tom’s main interest in the Civil War has focused on what type of people fought in the war and its human aspects as opposed to the actual battles, politics, and weaponry. As a result, Tom has made presentations on Winfield Scott Hancock, Jeb Stuart at Yellow Tavern, AP Hill, Robert Gould Shaw, the Draft Riots of New York City, among others. Tom has also written two historical novels on the Civil War and Reconstruction: Windows to the Past: A Virginian’s Experience in the Civil War and Lost Cause-Justice Found, both available on Amazon.com. Tom is currently in the process of writing his third historical novel that is entitled Triumph Conquers Tragedy, a post-Civil War story that takes place in 1870s Colorado Territory.