Reading suggestions please!

I came across a small advertisement in a local magazine that on November 20 the Ormond Beach Historical Society will be presenting a talk on General Adelbert Ames. I did not realize that Ames had retired to Ormond Beach. Hopefully this will be an interesting talk and nothing will come up in the mean time.

Does anybody know of a good book on Ames or his command? I scanned quickly through Amazon and didn't see anything that looked too promising. I'll be checking Larry Tagg's The Generals of Gettysburg and also Ezra Warner's Generals in Blue but was hoping for something a bit more in depth. I mean it's not like I don't have tons to read already.

As always, thanks for your help!

SEVHS February Meeting

Southeast Volusia Historical Society February Meeting

Local history is not my interest but I feel it important to support local history groups. I was finally able to attend a meeting of the SEVHS after being a member for more than a year. My work schedule usually is such that I can't make the Thursday evening meeting that takes place once a month. It was an interesting group. That's the word I would use for it.

The talk was worth attending. Sarah Miller, from The Florida Public Archaeology Network, gave a talk that centered around ground penetrating radar especially when it comes to cemeteries. Ms. Miller was obviously at home in giving this talk and this is no doubt a subject near and dear to her. She talked about discoveries made in St. Augustine, FL while being careful to explain that while GPR may indicate something below ground it may not always be what they are hoping for. She had a couple of interesting brochures including one on the organization she works for and another dealing with Florida's Unmarked Burial Law.

Overall I have to say I was disappointed by the Society however. Remember, I have never been to a meeting and have only been to the museum twice. Nobody there knows me. Not ONE person could be bothered to say hello, to ask my name, to welcome me, or to find out if I intended to rob them all. NOT ONE! I was there about 15 minutes before start time wandering around and stayed about ten minutes after the presentation. NOT ONE PERSON! Mind you I am not exaggerating when I tell you that other than Ms. Miller I was the youngest person there by a minimum of 25 years and really probably 35 years younger than the average attendee. Just seems that maybe some younger blood is a good thing to encourage but maybe age was the problem. For me this stands in complete contrast to a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting I went to in order to hear Russell Bonds speak. I would guess no fewer than a dozen people talked to my wife and myself. When I say talked I mean more than just saying hello.

Will this experience keep me from attending another meeting? Probably not if my work schedule permits. Is it a positive way to run an all volunteer organization when you have someone with time and energy to help? Not really. So any way, the next historical society meeting you attend, be sure to welcome the newbie (or at least say hello). They may turn into long time members.

Russell Bonds speaks on Stealing the General

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting Russell Bonds and hearing him speak on his wonderful book Stealing the General. Mr. Bonds was the guest speaker at the Christmas meeting of the W.W. Loring Camp 1316 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Mr Bonds uncle, the late Jan Parham, had invited him to speak. Mr. Bonds gave an interesting talk which was enhanced with a PowerPoint presentation. While I have read and highly recommend Stealing the General I was able to learn some new things. The city now known as Atlanta went through several name changes but did you know that Atlanta is actually an old Cherokee word for "to change planes"? (See Russ we really were paying attention).

In all seriousness Russ gave a very interesting talk and if you get a chance to see him I highly recommend making the time. In addition to a great talk Russ was genuinely glad to "press the flesh". When I walked in he recognized me within literally just a couple of minutes and came and introduced himself. He introduced my wife and I around to several people including is aunt and charming wife Jill. He really made a positive impression on me as an author, speaker, and person. My wife, who despite having been a history major is not enthralled by the Civil War, told me the talk was interesting enough she may have to read the book herself. She'll have to get her own copy though because she can't have my signed hardback copy!

I had never been to a SCV event before and was not sure what to expect. I must admit my wife and I were treated with kindness and respect by everybody. I was wearing my FSU windbreaker and stepped outside for a few minutes. A young man who happens to be a University of Florida fan struck up a conversation with me about college football and we had a really nice talk. Many others came up to say hi to the "new couple" and all were pleasant. Even new camp commander James Davis talked to me and made a point to tell me I was always welcome and he'd love to see me again. The United Daughters of the Confederacy even talked to my wife and promised to send her information. Whether we have any interest in joining these groups isn't relevant it's that they tried to make sure we didn't feel like outsiders.

Overall 5/5 stars on the presentation. And to think all it cost me was a trip to the St. Augustine Outlet Mall afterwards! That's a whole different story though.