Our Next Presentation

The Civil Warriors Civil War Round Table of the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles will hold its next meeting of 2026 via the Zoom app at 7:00PM Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 14. We are pleased to be hosting a presentation by author Tim Snyder entitled:

"Stonewall Jackson's Winter Operations"

Tim Snyder’s talk offers a fresh perspective on early-war operations led by Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson. These pre-Valley Campaign military activities reveal a starkly different portrait of the enigmatic general. Depicted is a fallible Jackson who encountered significant difficulties, made mistakes and miscalculations, and led a series of unsuccessful operations. Snyder’s extensive primary source research fundamentally reshapes perceptions of the fabled general to present a more accurate historical portrait of the man and his early Civil War career. Jackson orchestrated raids against two dams of the C&O Canal Company, a vital coal carrier serving Washington. His persistent efforts highlight the canal’s significance to the Union war effort. Then during the bitterly cold Bath-Romney Campaign, Jackson led a small army into the Alleghenies, and captured Bath, Virginia. On picket duty, several men from General Loring’s command froze to death while officers from the Stonewall Brigade lodged their men in a resort hotel. This disparity fueled deep resentment within Loring’s command and a near-mutiny. Although Jackson later captured Romney, without a fight, occupying the town was not the general’s original objective. When the Confederate secretary of war ordered Jackson to withdraw Loring’s command to Winchester, Jackson threatened to resign, citing interference from Richmond.

Timothy R. Snyder graduated with an MA degree in history from Shippensburg (PA) University in 1999. He is the author of Trembling in the Balance: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal during the Civil War (Blue Mustang Press, 2011) and articles that have appeared in a variety of journals, magazines, and newsletters. On his paternal side of the family, two cousins served in the Union army, one of whom was killed at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, one week before Lee’s surrender. On his maternal side, the author is second cousin of Mary Virginia “Jennie” Wade, the only civilian killed during the battle of Gettysburg. His research interests concern Maryland’s political and military history during the secession crisis and Civil War, and loyalty and allegiance in the border states. He lives in Hagerstown, MD.

Miller is a writer, filmmaker, and photographer based in Los Angeles. He is best known for writing and producing the popular independent documentary “When Stand Up Stood Out,” about the “gold rush” of the 70s and 80s Boston Comedy scene, and for writing and editing the documentary “Bettie Page Reveals All,” which won “Best FeatureMiller is ale President of The Center for Military 

We will be meeting via the Zoom meeting app. We will send out the meeting on-line connection information shortly before our meeting day (10/14/2026). Please plan on beginning your hookup a few minutes before the 7:00PM Pacific meeting time. If you are a first-time visitor to the Civil Warriors, please contact us at cwrtsfv@gmail.com for information regarding the hookup. Guests, new members and returning members are always welcome to join us for this and future meetings! If you can’t make this meeting, please consider one of our exciting upcoming meetings noted in our Future Presentations section.

Future Presentations