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March 23-25, 2012
- William C. Davis, professor of history at Virginia Tech, succeeded James I. Robertson Jr. as director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies in 2011, after acting as director of programs since 2000. Davis is the author or editor of more than 50 books in Civil War and Southern history. His most recent book is The Rogue Republic: How Would-Be Patriots Waged the Shortest Revolution in American History.
- George A. McLean is a graduate of Hampden Sydney College and the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. He has practiced law in Roanoke, Virginia since 1974. He recently wrote an introductory essay to Edward Beyer’s Travels through America, and has just published The Battle of Pearisburg. He currently lives in sight of the battlefield.
- John F. Marszalek, our keynote speaker, is a native of Buffalo, New York, who retired in 2002, after 29 years as a professor of history at Mississippi State University. He is the author of a number of distinguished works including Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order. He is currently executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and managing editor of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant.
- J. Holt Merchant, Martin and Brooke Stein Professor of American History, has taught at Washington and Lee University for the last 41 years, also serving as chair of the department of history and marshal of the university. He earned a B.A. in History at W&L in 1961, and completed his Ph.D at the University of Virginia in 1976. He has a forthcoming biography of Fire-eater Lawrence Keitt.
- James I. Robertson Jr., recently retired from Virginia Tech after 43 years on the faculty, is now an emeritus professor. One of the deans of Civil War history, he was director of the Civil War Centennial Commission and currently serves on the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. His latest book is The Untold Civil War, published by National Geographic.
- Greg Starbuck graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. in American History and a B.S. in Business Management. From 2000-2002, he served as the first director of education at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia, then became executive director of Historic Sandusky in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 2010, he wrote and directed Hunter’s Raid: Defending Hearth & Home, a documentary film on the campaign.
- Lt. Col. William F. Stringer is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, and now lives in Richmond after recently retiring as deputy commandant of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. He still serves as an adjunct faculty member of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and is a popular regular speaker at the Civil War Weekends.