Discover the surprising efforts of New York City’s elite during the winter of 1866-1867 to aid impoverished white southerners who formerly had enjoyed “easy circumstances." John Coski leads this talk.

Delve into the disaster at the battles of Ball’s Bluff and Edwards Ferry as author and battlefield guide James Morgan recounts how the battle wrecked a general’s career and led to the death of one of President Lincoln’s good friends.

Questions raised by the personal cost of the war are still relevant today.  National Park Service Ranger Candace Hart leads this discussion of the physical and mental impacts the Civil War had on those who fought.

Showcasing items from the Museum’s rich collection associated with death and mourning, Interpretation and Programs Manager Kelly Hancock examines how the 19th-century ideals of death and dying were adapted in the face of American’s bloodiest war....

Few schools played a larger role in the Civil War than the Virginia Military Institute. The Tredegar Society welcomes author & VMI alum Dr. Richard McMurray for a talk that explores how the success of VMI Cadets at the Battle of New Market so...

Dr. John W. Mountcastle, Ph.D., Brigadier General, U.S. Army, Retired, Adjunct Faculty, University of Richmond, explores the role of the United States Army in the postwar South and examine its impact on Reconstruction.

This lecture was part...

Using the Library of Virginia’s exhibit “Remaking Virginia” and other online offerings as a springboard, Library staffers Dr. Gregg Kimball and Catherine Wyatt examine how African Americans made the change from property to citizens and explore the...

Jefferson Davis led an effort to break up the United States, yet he never faced punishment or a trial for what many considered treason. Why was that? Lead Historical Interpreter Brianna Kirk explores Northern perspective in the immediate post-war...

Metals of various types were used during the Civil War for everything from railroads, weapons and armament to tack for draft animals, cooking utensils and wires for communication. But where did all this metal come from? What were the different typ...

Unusual battlefield acoustics have been noted for many centuries. On several occasions during the Civil War, the generation of outdoor sounds had a dramatic effect on the outcome of battles. Following a review of the physics behind acoustic shadow...

Maggie L. Walker (1864-1934), is best known for being the first African American female bank president in 1903, but she did much more than that and all here in Richmond.  This talk by National Park Service Ranger Ben Anderson explores Walker's Ric...

The first 12 Congressional Medals of Honor awarded to African American soldiers were earned at a battle fought near Richmond. Some were free men fighting to prove that African Americans were worthy of full citizenship – others were former slaves f...

The jewel in the crown of Richmond’s James River Park, Belle Isle is best known today for its recreational opportunities and, ironically, as the site of an infamous Civil War prison camp. An overview of Belle Isle’s entire history reveals that dea...

Civil War music is more than sheet music and military bands. Few people realize that we can actually listen to music performed by Civil War veterans on early cylinder and 78-rpm disc recordings from the early twentieth century. Dr. Gregg D. Kimbal...

In this talk, Dr. Clay Mountcastle presented a new look at the complex nature of guerrilla warfare in the Civil War and the Union Army's calculated response to it. He examined guerrilla attacks and Federal responses in a number of operational thea...

Washington and Lee Professor J. Holt Merchant gave a talk for The Tredegar Society covering the political extremism of the fire-eaters and how they helped bring about the secession of the southern states. Merchant focused on Laurence M. Keitt, the...

Less than a day after Jefferson Davis left Richmond, Federal forces captured the Confederate White House, intact. Thus began a five year occupation of the site by the U.S. Army, during Reconstruction-era Virginia. White House Interpretation Superv...

Dr. Joan Waugh, recipient of the Museum’s 2009 Jefferson Davis Award for her book, U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth, traces the evolution of Grant’s reputation over the last 150 years and assess where he stands today.

The Tredegar Society of the American Civil War Museum hosted William & Mary President W. Taylor Reveley, III as he lectured on the College during the Civil War. This lecture was given in the Pattern Building of Historic Tredegar on October 30,...

On November 14, 2014, American Civil War Museum Co-CEO Waite Rawls gave a talk on the Election of 1864. This lecture was part of the Museum's series of monthly brown bag lunch talks commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

Railroad communications have been especially important in history, but never so much as during wartime. This talk given on January 9, 2015 explored communications on the train, internally (within the railroad), and externally (with the outside wor...

Christmas of 1864 was the last celebrated in the Confederate States of America, for the nation did not exist the following year. Shortages and hardships affected every Southern family’s ability to observe the holiday season in the usual manner – e...

In February 1865 Southern statesmen, soldiers, and civilians were engaged in the last stages of a months-long public debate over a proposal to enlist enslaved and free African-American men “to perform military service.” The Confederate Congress ap...

University of Virginia Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History Elizabeth R. Varon lectured on the various interpretations of the surrender at Appomattox in the press. The lecture was given on April 9, 2015 at the Museum of the Confede...

American Civil War Museum Board Chairman Ed Ayers brought the Museum's 150th commemorations to a close at Appomattox. In this morning lecture, he discussed the "Valley of the Shadow," a digital archive of primary sources that documents the lives o...

Local historian Albert Carter presented the history of Thomas S. Bocock, who was born in Buckingham, lived and practiced law in Appomattox, served in the U.S. House of Representatives before the Civil War, and became the Confederate Speaker of the...

General Robert E. Lee, portrayed by David Palmer, spoke about the events of April 1, 1865 and then took questions from the audience during the Museum of the Confederacy-Appomattox's 150th commemorative events.

Professor Michael Ross discussed his latest work, "The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law and Justice in the Reconstruction Era." In this book, Ross offers the first full account of the kidnapping of seventeen-month-old Mollie Digby by t...

John Grady, the author of "Matthew Fontaine Maury, Father of Oceanography: A Biography, 1806 - 1873," discusses Maury's time in Richmond during the American Civil War and his contributions to the Confederacy in this lecture.

James Thompson examined the plot to assassinate Lincoln, Seward, Johnson, and Grant, the subsequent trial and its outcome in this American Civil War Museum lecture.

Author Scott Mayer lectured at Historic Tredegar on July 29 about the history of baseball, especially in Richmond. Get the baseball bibliography mentioned in the lecture at the following...