Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier welcomes guest speaker Eric Wittenberg on March 3 at 7 p.m. to the Petersburg Civil War Roundtable.
Wittenberg will share the action and stories from his new book titled, “Six Days of Awful Fighting: Cavalry Operations on the Road to Cold Harbor.”
Most students of the Civil War are familiar with the terrible infantry fighting that occurred on June 1-3, 1864 at Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia. Many however, are unfamiliar with the concerted cavalry fighting that took place prior to the battle of Cold Harbor on May 27 to June 1. This fighting pitted the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac against the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia.
These forces opposed each other at places like Hanovertown, Haw’s Shop, Matadequin Creek, Hanover Court House, Ashland, and, finally, Cold Harbor itself. The May 28, 1864, battle of Haw’s Shop was considered the fiercest cavalry battle of the war to date; but, it would be shadowed two weeks later by the battle of Trevilian Station. Haw’s Shop elevated Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton to prominence as the new commander of the Army of Northern Virginia’s Cavalry Corps following the death of the former cavalry chief, Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, 16 days earlier. Other notable characters involved in these actions include Philip H. Sheridan, Fitzhugh Lee, George A. Custer, and David M. Gregg.
Eric J. Wittenberg is an award-winning author of Civil War history from southeastern Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Dickinson College, the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. He is a partner in the Columbus, Ohio law firm of Cook, Sladoje & Wittenberg Co., L.P.A., where he manages the firm’s litigation practice.
Wittenberg has authored 22 books on the American Civil War and over three dozen articles published in national publications. He speaks and conducts battlefield tours regularly across the country. He continues to serve as a board member with several organizations to include the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and the Little Big Horn Associates, and often works with the American Battlefields Trust on battlefield preservation initiatives.
The Petersburg Civil War Roundtable will meet the first Thursday of each month at Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier from 7-8 p.m. Annual membership is $40. Individuals who are already members of Pamplin Historical Park can become members of PCWRT for $20. Non-members can attend for $5 each meeting. Call (804) 861-2408 for more information.
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