Mr. Dan Brown will present "The Battle of Stones River" to the Washington Civil War Round Table on Monday evening, May 25, at 6:00 p.m., at The Jockey Club restaurant on The Square in Washington, Ga.

Claibourne Darden, Round Table President, says that the public is invited and welcomed. The cost of the meeting is $10 per person and includes a very nice dinner. Please make reservations, as soon as possible, by e-mail claibourne @darden-atlanta.net; or by calling (404)210-5811 and leaving a message.

On the last day of 1862, two great armies faced each other along the icy banks of the Stones River in Tennessee, just east of Nashville. At places along the front, the opposing army pickets (front guards) were only 100 yards apart. The Union Army was under command of Gen. William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army was commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg.

As the battle opened, Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne (CSA), known as "the Stonewall Jackson of the West", quickly turned the Federal right flank and had destroyed much of it. But by midmorning, the Confederate Army had suffered casualties that it could ill afford. Fully a third of Hardee's (CSA) entire corps had been killed or wounded and Polk's (CSA) corps had suffered a 30 percent loss. The Confederate Army, although very successful in battle could not hold the field with their depleted forces and the battle was lost. It's a fascinating story!

The Union victory was so important at this time in the war, President Lincoln said that without the victory at Stones River, "the Union would have not survived."

Mr. Brown is the past historian for the National Park Service at the Stones River battlefield. He is currently the curator of the Signal Corps Museum at Fort Gordon. He has worked for the National Park Service at the Civil War sites of Fort Pulaski, GA; Kennesaw Mountain, GA and Cumberland Gap, Tenn. He puts on a splendid and exciting presentation that anyone interest in the Civil War would regret missing!

Membership in the Washington Civil War Round Table is open to everyone and new members can join at the meeting.