Roanoke Civil War Round Table - Troy Harman Proves Why “All Roads Led to Gettysburg”
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Chapel of the Residents’ Center at Friendship, 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke. 397 Hershberger Road 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, Virginia 24012
Kevin C. Donovan
Standing eternal guard over the Gettysburg battlefield
The Kegley Award-winning Roanoke Civil War Round Table invites you to our January 14 meeting, at which popular Gettysburg Park Ranger Troy Harman will discuss his new interpretation of why the small town of Gettysburg drew two mighty armies into the epic battle for the future of America.
Why “All Roads Led to Gettysburg”
In popular telling, the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg started completely by accident. On July 1, 1863, a Confederate commander marched towards the small town, just looking for shoes. Instead, he found federal cavalry, a battle started, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Subplots of this story include the lament that if only Jeb Stuart had not been off “joy riding” with the Southern cavalry, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia would not have blindly stumbled into battle. Meanwhile, the new U.S. Army of the Potomac commander, George Meade, only mere days on the job, was groping north without really knowing where Lee’s army was to be found. Gettysburg just got in the way of two oblivious armies.
Veteran Gettysburg National Military Park Ranger Dr. Troy D. Harman begs to differ. Drawing on more than 30 years of studying both the ground and the battle, Dr. Harman argues that the gigantic clash at Gettysburg was in fact virtually inevitable. He bases this conclusion on the fundamental need of Civil War armies for water, roads and rail heads. The Army of the Potomac, for example, had to find water for 92,000 men and over 30,000 horses and mules, not to mention water for over 300 field pieces of artillery (which needed substantial water for safe operation) and hospitals. Lee’s army had similar needs. Both armies needed good roads to move on and to transport the massive amounts of supplies required to fight. Rail lines also were key to the U.S. army’s needs. All these elements lured the contending parties like a magnet to Gettysburg.
Significantly, the same features greatly influenced decisions during the actual three-day battle, especially the need to secure water, as much or more than well-known terrain features such as Little Round Top and Cemetery Hill. Dr. Harman’s fresh, novel approach to explaining how Gettysburg became the destination point of two great armies, and how the battle itself developed, will be an eye-opener to those who thought they knew everything there was to know about the Civil War’s most famous encounter.
On Tuesday, January 14, the Roanoke Civil War Round Table—winner of a 2024 Kegley Award for Heritage Education—hosts long-time Gettysburg Park Ranger & popular historian Dr. Troy Harmon, who will present “All Roads Led to Gettysburg,” based on his latest book, subtitled A New Look at the Civil War's Pivotal Battle, which convincingly reframes the story of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Date, Time & Location: Tuesday, January 14 (7:00 pm). Chapel of the Residents’ Center at Friendship, 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, VA. Admission is free (but becoming a Round Table member welcome).