When the Civil War began, American railroads were brand new. The first track was laid just thirty years earlier and nobody had given much thought to the wartime use of railroads. But the iron horse was made to order for this huge new land and new lines were being added at a dizzying rate. The North had a huge advantage over the South in this technology, but the Confederates used railroads to win the first major battle of the war and pulled off the largest troop movement of the war.
Our speaker, Dave Smith of Old Saybrook, will tell the fascinating story of how the North mastered the wartime use of the technology to attack deep into the South and why the war ended in a skirmish at a railroad siding in central Virginia.
Dave is well qualified to speak on the subject. He is a long-time student of the war, has written and lectured on many subjects, and is the grandson and great grandson of Civil War soldiers. Additionally, he is the son of a railroad man and grew up around trains. In 1951, as an 18 year old Marine Corporal, he rode a troop train across the country, passing over several major battlefield of the Civil War, on his way to Korea.
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Please join us for a fascinating talk on America’s most devastating war and the technology that shaped it.
Civil War buffs will also want to attend the upcoming Civil War Living History Event on October 13 on the grounds of the Simsbury Historical Society!
