Civil War discussion group for the San Francisco Peninsula
Why Should You Be Interested in Civil War History?
The Civil War, what led up to it, and what happened afterwards are central to American history, and how the America we know today came to be.
At each monthly meeting of the Peninsula Civil War Round Table, the San Francisco Peninsula’s round table group, we explore and discuss a wide variety of topics related to Civil War history.
We cordially invite you to join us at lunchtime the third Tuesday of each month, at Harry’s Hofbrau restaurant, 1909 El Camino Real in Redwood City, CA. See the MEETING INFO tab above for a map and directions. Harry’s opens at 11 a.m. for lunch cafeteria style. Meetings in the side room to the left of the entrance begin promptly at 12 noon.
Upcoming meetings:
July 15, 2025 — Jim Rhetta on “England and Recognition of the Confederacy”
Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on Tuesday, July 15. Harry’s opens at 11 am for cafeteria style lunch; our meeting will start promptly at 12 noon. See the MEETING INFO menu item for directions. This month’s topic is
Jim Rhetta on “England and Recognition of the Confederacy”
A common belief with Civil War historians is that England was frequently politically leaning towards Diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy. That belief is backed up by the view that lack of cotton nearly drove England to recognize the south to secure cotton for economic stability and employment for cotton industry workers. The key missing requirement for Diplomatic recognition was a stunning Confederate battlefield victory to persuade England that the Confederacy was a militarily viable nation.
Closer evaluations of this issue are commonly lacking in US publishing, with the familiar beliefs repeated for generations of readers. This presentation will look at the British decision-makers, influencers, foreign policy, and political process to reveal the truth about England’s intentions to recognize the Confederacy.
Jim Rhetta retired from Lockheed Corp and also retired from the USAF Reserve as a Colonel in the Intelligence Community. In both careers he monitored, analyzed and reported on global conflicts, threat assessments, and force postures for the DoD Community. He had to present hundreds of current intelligence briefings, threat assessments, and order’s of battle to a variety of DoD personnel and units. He continues to study both current events and historical subjects for their impacts on us today.
Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on Tuesday, August 19. Harry’s opens at 11 am for cafeteria style lunch; our meeting will start promptly at 12 noon. See the MEETING INFO menu item for directions. This month’s topic is
Wayne Padgett on “Grierson’s Raid”
The talk will be on Grierson’s raid through Mississippi from Tennessee to Baton Rouge. Wayne will go into the details of the actual raid, then contrast it with the John Ford 1959 film on the same subject entitled The Horse Soldiers, starring John Wayne. Wayne will describe Ford’s filming characteristics; i.e., he liked to be on location instead of a studio sound stage.
Wayne Padgett is a native San Franciscan graduating from Lincoln H.S.
After naval service as a quartermaster on a destroyer escort, he graduated from Sacramento State College with a degree in law enforcement. After which, he was a special agent with NCIS, then U.S. Treasury Internal Security Division, and finally U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General retiring in 1990. Concurrent with this, he entered the U.S. Coast Guard reserve retiring as a Lieut. Commander.
His interest in the Civil War has been lifelong, having two great grandfathers and a great-great grandfather who served in the war, all in one South Carolina regiment—specifically the 2nd S.C. Artillery.
Wayne joined the San Francisco CWRT when a friend said that they needed a few more bodies in order to secure a private meeting room at the Irish Cultural Center in S.F. He attended, joined, and eventually served as president for several terms. Upon the demise of the S.F. CWRT, he joined the Peninsula CWRT.
Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on Tuesday, September 16. Harry’s opens at 11 am for cafeteria style lunch; our meeting will start promptly at 12 noon. See the MEETING INFO menu item for directions. This month’s topic is
Alice Mansel on “Benito Juarez and Lincoln”
How did a poor orphaned Oaxacan indian, Benito Juarez, become the Mexican President? Why did New York financiers give him cash during the US Civil War to push European powers out of Mexico? The story starts with Juarez working as a houseboy in the home of a bookbinder who was a lay Franciscan brother, how he became a lawyer, and ends with Lincoln signing a document about Alta California’s Franciscan missions seized illegally by Americans.
Alice Mansell is a business owner and lawyer who majored in physical sciences and history in college.
Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on Tuesday, October 21. Harry’s opens at 11 am for cafeteria style lunch; our meeting will start promptly at 12 noon. See the MEETING INFO menu item for directions. This month’s topic is
Tonya McQuade on “Missouri in the Civil War”
Did you know that many people actually believe the Civil War started in Missouri? Missouri was a state torn apart by political disagreements and violence even before the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861. While the Missouri Compromise of 1820 helped to postpone the Civil War for four decades, the Platte Purchase, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott case, and the “Bleeding Kansas” border wars—all of which played out here—added fuel to the fire. Some of the war’s first blood spilled on Missouri’s soil, and 42% of the battles occurred here during the first year of the war. Missouri even found itself with two competing governments: one supporting the Union; the other, the Confederacy.
Overall, Missouri suffered more than 1000 engagements on its soil. Many of those involved guerrilla warfare—including the Centralia Massacre and Battle of Centralia, which occurred September 27, 1864. As it turns out, this month’s speaker discovered she has family ties to Centralia on both the Union and Confederate sides.
In this talk, author Tonya Graham McQuade—whose family roots go deep in Missouri—will discuss Missouri’s interesting Civil War history and share excerpts from her book, A State Divided: The Civil War Letters of James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree of Andrew County, Missouri, 1862–1865. The book includes fifty previously unpublished Civil War letters written by two of her ancestors and explains the context in which these two Missouri soldiers and their families found themselves living, both before and during the Civil War, as they watched discord, destruction, and bloodshed erupt all around them.
Originally from Tennessee and Indiana, Hale and Petree each had relatives who fought and died on both sides of the war. Their letters provide vivid details and unique perspectives into their lives and experiences during the war. Tonya will explain how this book came about, read some excerpts from the letters, and show some related maps, family trees, and photos. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Tonya Graham McQuade is the author of A State Divided: The Civil War Letters of James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree of Andrew County, Missouri, 1862-65, and is a contributing writer to the Emerging Civil War website. She has a love for both history and historical fiction and a passion for writing which she plans to continue pursuing. Last October she went on a book tour in Missouri to discuss her book at many of its relevant sites, and she has some related historical fiction novels she plans to work on now that she has retired—after 33 years—from teaching English at Los Gatos High School.
Tonya is the great-great-great granddaughter of James Callaway Hale, who wrote forty of the letters in her book. Hale’s daughter Mary Ann married the brother of Benjamin Petree, who wrote the other ten letters. In A State Divided, Tonya tells the story of these two Missouri soldiers as they march and drill with their regiments, avoid several close calls with guerrillas and enemy troops, witness the buildup to the Vicksburg Campaign, get an in-depth look at wartime St. Louis, overcome illness, trek with Sherman through the Carolinas, ponder the devastation they encounter, celebrate victory in Washington, D.C., and spend a lot of time sitting around, longing to be home, writing letters to their families.
Tonya lives in San Jose, California. She is an active member of Emerging Civil War, South Bay Civil War Round Table, South Bay Writers/California Writers Club, National League of American Pen Women, and Poetry Center San Jose. You can learn more about Tonya on her website at tonyagrahammcquade.com, as well as find photos related to her book and to her research trips to Missouri. You can also find links to her Chasing History and Emerging Civil War blog posts, her poetry and photography, and her social media sites.
Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on Tuesday, November 18. Harry’s opens at 11 am for cafeteria style lunch; our meeting will start promptly at 12 noon. See the MEETING INFO menu item for directions. This month’s topic is
Mark Lindberg on “America’s Entry into World War I”
The upcoming program on America’s entry into World War I will explore the critical events and dynamics surrounding the United States’ involvement in the global conflict. It will begin by examining the events leading up to the war, setting the stage for the complex international tensions that drew the U.S. into the fray. The presentation will then delve into the specific circumstances surrounding America’s entry, highlighting the pivotal moment in 1917 during President Woodrow Wilson’s second term when the U.S. officially joined the conflict. Attendees will learn about the initial state of the U.S. military, its limited capacity at the outset, and the massive expansion that followed to meet the demands of the war. The program will also cover the decisive impact of the U.S. arrival in early 1918, which shifted the momentum toward the Allies, culminating in victory within six months, accompanied by striking battlefield photos from Mark’s 2015 WWI Tour. Finally, the presentation will reflect on the lessons learned from the war and its profound effects on the post-war world, offering insights into how this conflict reshaped global history.
Mark Lindberg grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota where he obtained his Private Pilot’s license on his 18th Birthday while working summers driving a Redi Mix truck for his father’s local contracting company. After obtaining additional aviation ratings, Mark worked as a Flight Instructor while attending the University of North Dakota and graduating in Mechanical Engineering.
Upon graduation in Mechanical Engineering, Mark spent 5 months of training in La Crosse, Wisconsin in commercial air conditioning equipment sales and was then transferred to the Bay Area. During the first several years in the Bay Area, Mark attended the evening MBA program at Santa Clara University graduating in 1976 in Finance.
Although regularly visiting friends and relatives in North Dakota, the weather convinced Mark to remain in California. In May of 1977, Mark flew to England on an airline, rented a Cessna-150(G-BBJW), and celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Lindbergh’s 1927 flight to Paris with a flight from Biggen Hill, UK to Le Bourget airport in Paris.
His career included both commercia HVAC, Real Estate acquisitions and investing along with part time flight instruction. In 2015, Mark received the FAA “Wright Brothers Master Pilot” Award for 50 years of flying without an accident or violation. Mark is a 30-year member and past President of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View, a 15-year member of the Mounted Patrol of San Mateo County, and a 5-year volunteer at the Wings of History Museum in San Martin, CA. He enjoys golf, horseback riding, historical travel, and photography while writing and speaking on a variety of subjects. Website: marklindberg.com.
Join us at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City on Tuesday, December 16. Harry’s opens at 11 am for cafeteria style lunch; our meeting will start promptly at 12 noon. See the MEETING INFO menu item for directions. This month’s topic is
Magnus Akerblom on “A Soldier’s Christmas”
Just after Christmas in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Union and Confederate armies set up camp within shouting distance of one another. To raise their spirits they began a combative volley of patriotic tunes: “Yankee Doodle” drowned out by “Dixie.” A bittersweet moment a day before the battle of Stones River.
Magnus Akerblom was born in Sweden and immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1957. They lived in Lake County for three years and then moved to San Mateo. After graduating from Burlingame High School, Magnus served three years in the U.S. Army. He attended the College of San Mateo where after taking a class in U.S. history, Magnus developed a life long interest in the Civil War.
One of Magnus’s favorite pastimes is off road wheeling in his Jeep. He belongs to the Esprit De Four club, and conducts a class on how to drive off road.
Magnus has been a member of the Peninsula Civil War Round Table for three years.
Nick Marinaro on “The Maritime Landscape During the Civil War and Pivotal Naval Battles, 1861–1865”
Join Nick Marinaro for an engaging exploration of the naval theater of the American Civil War, a critical yet often overlooked aspect of the conflict. This talk will examine how the Union and Confederacy vied for control of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and key Southern rivers, shaping strategic and economic outcomes. Highlighting groundbreaking innovations in naval warfare, Nick will discuss the introduction of ironclad ships, sea mines (torpedoes), revolving gun turrets, and the Confederacy’s pioneering use of the submarine H.L. Hunley. The presentation will focus on three pivotal battles:
USS Kearsarge vs. CSS Alabama (June 1864): A dramatic duel off the coast of France that showcased Union naval superiority.
Battle of Hampton Roads (March 1862): The historic “Clash of the Ironclads,” featuring the USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia, marking the dawn of modern naval warfare.
Battle of Mobile Bay (August 1864): A decisive Union victory, led by Admiral David Farragut, that sealed the Confederacy’s fate in the Gulf.
Discover how these battles and innovations reshaped maritime strategy and influenced the course of the Civil War. Don’t miss this deep dive into a transformative era of naval history!
Nick Marinaro was born and raised in Fresno, California, and has had an interest in the Civil War since elementary school. He graduated from Clovis High School and Stanford University with a degree in Human Biology. His 38 year professional career was with the Stanford University/City of Palo Alto Fire Departments, retiring as Fire Chief. Nick has been a member of the Lions Club for 23 years and is the President of the Peninsula Council of Lions Clubs and Treasurer for the Lions Veterans Charities. He is a Board Member of the Palo Alto/Stanford Historical Association (PAST) and the Treasurer of the Peninsula Civil War Roundtable.
Dana Lombardy is back for part 2 of his presentation on the other World War Two 80th anniversary battle in Western Europe. This time Dana explores the Battle of the Bulge, America’s largest land battle in Europe. Dana created an illustrated history and worked with fellow Hall of Fame game designer Steve Jackson to update Steve’s classic game One-Page Bulge. How close did the Germans come to winning their last major offensive in Europe?
Dana Lombardy was an Associate Online Editor for Armchair General and now does research, writing and design through LombardyStudios.com Dana appeared on television nearly twenty times, including multiple episodes of The History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun” series. He has contributed as an editor, cartographer, graphic artist and designer on many books, games and magazines, was Publisher of Napoleon Journal from 1996-2000, published nine issues of World War One Illustrated, and was consulting historian for the Armistice Centennial exhibit in the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building lobby (now on display on the second floor).
Dana Lombardy on “Bloody Omaha: The Big Red One at D-Day”
2024 saw the 80th anniversary of the decisive World War Two battle in Western Europe: the massive Allied invasion at Normandy, France, called D-Day. Dana worked with acclaimed military artist Keith Rocco to publish a comic and hardcover book based upon the two huge wall murals Rocco created for the First Division Museum. Dana will present the backstory of the murals, the books, and will show his latest solitaire and 2-player board game to be released this summer: Bloody Omaha: The Big Red One at D-Day.
Dana Lombardy was an Associate Online Editor for Armchair General and now does research, writing and design through LombardyStudios.com Dana appeared on television nearly twenty times, including multiple episodes of The History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun” series. He has contributed as an editor, cartographer, graphic artist and designer on many books, games and magazines, was Publisher of Napoleon Journal from 1996-2000, published nine issues of World War One Illustrated, and was consulting historian for the Armistice Centennial exhibit in the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building lobby (now on display on the second floor).
Mark Costin on “Battle of Buena Vista – Training Ground for the Civil War”
This talk describes the 1847 Battle of Buena Vista where the American forces of Zachary Taylor defeated the Mexican army of Santa Anna. The battle saw significant contributions by many future Civil War stalwarts. Particular attention will be paid to the important contributions by Jefferson Davis and Braxton Bragg in securing the victory. The talk will conclude with an open discussion of the comparison between the two wars.
Mark Costin is an Engineer living in Sunnyvale, CA, working on functional safety for automated and autonomous vehicles. A longtime history buff, this is Mark’s first presentation to the PCWRT on the subject of the Mexican-American War. He holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, a M.Eng. from McMaster University and a B.Eng. from McGill University.