2023 National Conference:  The Road to and From Gettysburg: The Shenandoah Valley in 1863

To register for this day or the entire conference, please paste this link into your browser:  https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/2023-conference

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation’s 2023 National Civil War Conference will look at the Valley in 1863, focusing on the Valley’s role in the Gettysburg Campaign.  When Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second major invasion of the north in 1863, much of his army used the Shenandoah Valley as an avenue of invasion – and, after his defeat in Pennsylvania, as a route of retreat.  During the campaign, the Valley would witness the Battles of Second Winchester (“one of the most perfect pieces of work the Army of Northern Virginia ever did.”), which cleared Lee’s route north, and Manassas Gap, the last Federal opportunity to cut off Lee as he withdrew south.

Friday (April 21, 2023)

7:30am: Buffet Breakfast at the George Washington Hotel.

9am-5pm: Speakers Programs: The Valley and the Gettysburg Campaign.  Lunch will be provided. Speakers and topics will include:

• Jonathan A. Noyalas – "Considering the Uncertainty of War and the Certainty of Slavery": Milroy, Emancipation, and Freedom's Uncertainty after the Second Battle of Winchester

• Scott L. Mingus– “Swallowed Up”: Federal Decision Making and Second Winchester

• Aragon Herrera: The Forgotten State: California in the Shenandoah Valley

• William J. Miller – The Race to Staunton: The Wagon Train of Wounded and the Confederate Hospital System

• Jeffrey Wm Hunt – Meade and Lee After Gettysburg: The Forgotten Final Stage of the Gettysburg Campaign

• Ron Maxwell – Popular Culture and Battlefield Preservation

6:00pm: Awards Banquet with Host Keven Walker