Upcoming CCWRT Program
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
August 2026 Charger Uploaded
The August 2026 issue of The Charger has been uploaded. It can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Website’s Summer Series: Tenth (and Final) Installment (August 2, 2026)
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable typically has its season of meetings from September through May. Meetings are normally not held during the summer months of June, July, and August. In order to fill the summer months of 2026, some articles that were published during the 2025-2026 season in the Roundtable’s newsletter, The Charger, will be posted on the website during the summer months of 2026. The tenth (and final) installment of the Roundtable website’s summer series is ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas at Mrs. Balfour’s by Brian D. Kowell. Brian’s article discusses how a lavish Christmas Eve party at an extravagant house in Vicksburg was severely disrupted due to an imminent attack by Union forces. The article describes how this attack was detected by Confederate lookouts along the Mississippi River and also describes the extremely difficult task of relaying this information to Vicksburg’s garrison commander, who, as it happened, was at the party. Brian’s article can be accessed by clicking on this link.
With the end of the summer series, attention will now shift to the upcoming 2026-2027 Roundtable season. Each month information will be posted on this website about that month’s meeting. Also, updates about the field trip will be posted as needed. Please visit this website regularly for pertinent information. The program schedule for the Roundtable’s monthly meetings can be accessed by clicking on this link. Information about the Roundtable’s field trip can be accessed by clicking on this link. Also on this website are the program schedules for two other Cleveland-area Civil War roundtables. The program schedule for the Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable can be accessed by clicking on this link, and the program schedule for the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Previous installments in the 2026 summer series are as follows.
Edwin Cole Bearss, 1923-2020
Lines Drawn in War: Cartographers, Cameras, and the Civil War Landscape
Brothers in Arms: Edgar and William Abbott at Stones River – In Their Own Words
A Civil War-Era Invention That Literally Was a Game-Changer
Armistead, Ashby, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”
“Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dula”
Rhode Island: The Smallest State’s Contribution to the Union Cause
The Monroe Doctrine and the American Civil War: Principle, Prudence, and Power
Seward’s Icebox and the First Civil Rights Law in America
Roundtable Member Dan Zeiser to Speak at the World at War Forum
Roundtable member Dan Zeiser will be speaking at the World at War Forum about the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). This conflict not only served as something of a training ground for Adolph Hitler’s military, but also produced one of the great masterpieces of American literature (For Whom the Bell Tolls) as well as Pablo Picasso’s stunning painting of the bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica.
Dan’s presentation will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 in the Porter Room of the Westlake Porter Public Library (27333 Center Ridge Road, Westlake, Ohio 44145). A downloadable PDF for Dan’s presentation can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Program Schedules of Other Cleveland-Area Civil War Roundtables Posted on This Website
In addition to the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, two other Civil War roundtables in the Cleveland area are the Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable and the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable. Both of these roundtables, like the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, have a lecture series with monthly meetings that feature a presentation about a Civil War-related (or sometimes other historical) topic. To make visitors to our website aware of these presentations, the program schedules of the Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable and the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable have been posted on this website. Both of these program schedules have a nice mix of interesting topics and speakers, and all of the presentations are worth attending. Below are links to the web pages for each of these program schedules. Each web page contains the program schedule and also information about attending the meetings as well as a link to a downloadable PDF of the program schedule.
The Northeast Ohio Civil War Roundtable’s program schedule can be accessed by clicking on this link.
The Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable’s program schedule can be accessed by clicking on this link.
2026 Roundtable Field Trip – Updated Information Document (4/23/2026)
The Roundtable’s 2026 field trip is scheduled for September 17-20, 2026 to the Shenandoah Valley to study the 1862 Valley Campaign. A block of rooms has been reserved, and the itinerary has some very enticing activities on it. As of now, the following activities have been scheduled for the 2026 field trip: the First Battle of Kernstown, the Battle of Front Royal, the First Battle of Winchester, the Battle of Cross Keys, and the Battle of Port Republic. Check back for updates. A downloadable PDF containing information about the hotel, the tentative itinerary, and information about signing up for the field trip can be found by clicking on this link. This document was recently updated to include the order form for the box lunches. This order form should be completed and returned by September 1, 2026 as indicated in the instructions on the form.
Membership Roster and Contact Information
We have worked very hard to improve our membership database and contact information this year, but we know we probably have more work to do. Please be sure to keep us advised of changes in contact information by sending us the information at clecwrt@gmail.com. We monitor that email account on a regular basis, so this would be a big help in making sure we can keep you informed of group activities. If you want to see what has been posted on our Facebook page, you do not have to become a member of the Roundtable. Everyone is welcome to view our Facebook page. These can also be accessed by googling “Cleveland Civil War Roundtable” and either “Facebook” or “Twitter” and clicking on the appropriate link in the search results.
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Monthly Meetings
Meeting Time: Monthly meetings of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable are typically held on the second Wednesday of the month from September through May. Meetings ordinarily begin with a social hour at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program at 7:00 p.m. Meetings usually end by around 9:00 p.m. All of our meetings are currently held in person, and barring any future health-related restrictions, we anticipate that all meetings will be held in person.
Meeting Location: In-person meetings are held at the Holiday Inn Independence, 6001 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio 44131.
Reservations: For in-person meetings, you must make a dinner reservation for any meeting you plan to attend. Reservations must be made no later than eight days prior to the meeting (so we can give a head count to the caterer). For information on making a dinner reservation, click on this link. It is not necessary to purchase dinner in order to attend a meeting. Anyone is welcome to attend the presentation without purchasing dinner. We ask that people who are not purchasing dinner make a reservation so that enough chairs will be set up in the meeting room. Simply make a reservation at the reservation email address (ccwrtreserve@gmail.com) and indicate “no dinner” in the reservation. If dinner is not purchased, there is no charge to attend a meeting.