Our next meeting will be Thursday 11 March 2010 at St. Andrew's On-the-Sound (Airlie Rd.) Social Hour at 6:30 p.m., meeting at 7:30 p.m.

Please join us on 11 March at St. Andrew's On-the-Sound to hear Jack M. Travis discuss "Artillery at Gettysburg

Jack has authored the definitive work on Major James E. Reilly and the Rowan Artillery (later commanded by Captain John A. Ramsey) in Men of God, Angels of Death. Jack has also organized many memorials and remembrances including: Major James Reilly at Oakdale Cemetery; Captain John Ramsey at Salisbury; Colonel Edward Willis at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Va.) and General E. Porter Alexander at Magnolia Cemetery (Augusta, Ga.). Likewise, too numerous to mention are the many services Black Jack has provided to the UDC and SCV on Confederate Memorial Day, Flag Day and Lee-Jackson Birthday services. Colonel Travis is also a member of the Raleigh Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution and is past president of the Wake Forest Rotary Club.

At our February dinner meeting held at UNCW's Madeline Suite, author James "Larry" Walker entertained us with stories not only of his family, but of what life was like at Fort Fisher during the war. He noted early on that his book, Rebel Gibraltar: Fort Fisher and Wilmington, C.S.A. was meant to complement other studies done on Fort Fisher and Wilmington and he emphasized the importance of Wilmington (and hence the fort) to the war effort. He peppered his talk with stories of Joe King, Daisy Lamb and "Uncle John" Beasley. Larry's ancestor, (Joe King) a teenager during the war wrote his reminiscences in 1926 and remembered passing through town during the deadly yellow fever epidemic of 1862. He vividly recalled seeing the death carts as they hauled the victims to Oakdale Cemetery for interment.

Larry spoke to us about the importance of blockade running, with a description of several of the runners: the Modern Greece, the battle over the Kate and the saga of the Fannie and Jennie- perhaps that gold sword meant for General R.E. Lee and carried by the ship is still buried in the sands along the beach!

Larry noted that he made a very fortunate purchase of a book (Thomas Taylor's Running the Blockade) because it had belonged to Colonel William Lamb. He discovered that officer's handwriting in the flyleaf as well as a picture of Daisy Lamb. That book, donated by Mr. Walker, now graces the display cabinet at Fort Fisher. Kudos to Larry Walker for that generous gift!