Howard Jones on “Jean Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans”

The Battle of New Orleans took place between December 14, 1814, and January 18, 1815. It is widely believed that neither the British nor the Americans knew that the treaty of Ghent had ended the war. But this is patently untrue! Both sides knew very well that the treaty was still subject to ratification in both countries. Britain’s secret plan was to capture New Orleans and take over all of the lands that were once a part of the Louisiana Territory.

A fleet of 60 British ships was about to descend upon New Orleans. It contained over 14,000 soldiers and sailors. All of them were the seasoned veterans of the Napoleonic wars. To meet this threat, Andrew Jackson had assembled a motley crew of 1,100 combatants plus a handful of militias. But Jackson lacked both the gunpowder and the flints to sustain a prolonged defense of the City.

Enter the pirate: Jean Laffite was a famous pirate whose base of operations was in Barataria, 80 miles south of New Orleans. He was revered by the people of New Orleans. He also possessed all of the munitions that the Americans would need to successfully defend the City. Both sides knew that Laffite was the key to victory in the upcoming battle. But in the end, Lafitte would side with the Americans and assure our victory.

Howard will reveal the fascinating details of this battle. It was the last battle that was ever fought between Britain and America.

Howard Jones is an amateur historian and serves as the President of the Peninsula Civil War Round Table. He is a member of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars where he served as Commander General from 2014-2016. He is also a former president of the Silicon Valley Chapter – Sons of the American Revolution. Howard is proud of both his American heritage and his Southern heritage. He is distantly related to Robert E. Lee, JEB Stuart, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Dana Lombardy on “Commemorating the End of World War One, 1918-2018”

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the Great War, World War One, the “War to End Wars” as science-fiction writer H.G. Wells wrote in 1914. Obviously, it did not end wars and, in fact, was responsible for starting several more, including the War on Terrorism that plaques us today. Why? What happened that was so different, so cataclysmic to cause problems 100 years later? Dana Lombardy, Publisher and Senior Editor for World War One Illustrated magazine will explain through a PowerPoint presentation why World War One is still important today.

Walter Day presents a DVD about the “Battle of Spotsylvania Court House”

The DVD will be shown starting at 12:15, so please have your lunch by then.

Abby Eller on “Diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut, Part 2”

Abby Eller on “Diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut, Part 1”

Description of the presentation to be provided.

Walter Day presents a DVD about the “Battle of Spotsylvania Court House”

Description of the presentation to be provided.

Abby Eller on “The Destruction of Slavery During the Civil War”

At the outbreak of the Civil War, as Southern white men went off to fight, everyone knew they could count on the labor and loyalty of their slaves back home. Or could they?

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation has been criticized for only freeing the slaves in the rebel states but not in the loyal slave states. It is said that it did not really free any slaves at all. Or did it?

Would it surprise you to know that tens of thousands of slaves were already emancipated before the Emancipation Proclamation?

Come join us to hear the fascinating story of the demise of slavery during the Civil War, and how decisive this was to the war’s outcome.

Tom Roza on “Windows to the Past: A Virginian’s Experience in the Civil War”

Tom Roza of the South Bay Round Table has recently completed writing his first book on the Civil War. It was published last summer and is entitled Windows to the Past: A Virginian’s Experience in the Civil War. He will present the story of how he wrote the book and what it took to get it published.  Tom applied his 50+ years as a Civil War historian to write this novel from a Southern perspective. He worked for 8 months with a professional editor from Austin, TX, on story flow and character development. It is available on Amazon.com and KDP eBook sites. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.com: link

Abby Eller on “Judah Benjamin, The Brains of the Confederacy”

Judah Benjamin is scarcely remembered today. And yet, Jefferson Davis’s wife Varina Howell Davis stated that he would meet with President Davis for hours every day to discuss Confederate government matters. Judah Benjamin was known as “The brains of the Confederacy.” During the Civil War, Judah Benjamin, Jefferson Davis, and Varina Howell Davis formed a close friendship that lasted the rest of their lives. But when Jefferson Davis wrote his memoirs at the end of his life, he only made the briefest mention of this man. Why was this? And Judah Benjamin’s life story after the Civil War was so remarkable, it would be unbelievable if it weren’t actually true.

Abby Eller joined the Redwood City Civil War Round Table in July of this year. She and her husband Dave live in Menlo Park. Abby has been an American history buff ever since high school. In 2013 she joined Historic Union Cemetery Association based here in Redwood City.

Chimi Miskow on “Japanese-Americans in Japan during World War II, Part 2”

The plight of the Japanese Americans during World War II has been well chronicled in the past, but the lives of Japanese-Americans in Japan during this same era is almost unknown to many people. Perhaps you can peek into that era from Chimi’s family tale. She was born in 1939 to Hideo and Michiko Naganuma in Los Angeles; they were called back to Japan in 1940, intending to return to the United States, but the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 had put everything in the pause mode. The Naganuma family spent the war years as Americans in Japan. Chimi finished her high school education in Japan in 1959, then came back to the States to go to college. After college, she was hired by Pan Am as a stewardess for her language skills in Japanese, Chinese, and English. During her time of employment with Pan Am, Chimi met Ken and they have been here raising their daughter Catherine. This is a continuation of the January meeting topic.