Our speaker for the May 19, 2009 Mason-Dixon Civil War Round Table meeting is Ms. Gail Stephens. Her bio follows with a description of her presentation.

Gail Stephens has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Politics from George Washington University in Washington DC, and has done graduate work at Johns Hopkins and Harvard Universities.  She worked for the Department of Defense for 26 years, retiring in 1994 as a member of the Department’s Senior Executive Service.  Upon retirement, she began to study the American Civil War.  She volunteers at Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland, lectures on the Civil War, teaches courses at area colleges and gives battlefield tours.  In 2002, she won the National Park Service’s E.W. Peterkin award for her contributions to public understanding of Civil War history.  Currently, she is writing a book about Major General Lew Wallace’s Civil War service, to be published by the Indiana Historical Society Press. 

The Shadow of Shiloh: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War

  In the spring of 1862, Union Major General Lew Wallace appeared to have an exceptional military career ahead of him.  At the age of 35, he was the youngest major general in the Union Army, rising to that rank from colonel in 11 short months.  His failure to appear on the battlefield until the end of the first day of Shiloh appears to have put his career on hold, and the battle of Monocacy, “the battle that saved Washington,” appears to have resurrected it.  The truth, however, is never that simple.  Wallace was a genuine hero, but he made some mistakes and he was a scapegoat for others.  The story of Lew Wallace and the Civil War is complex and highlights some important truths about the battles within the Union Army as well as those with the Confederates.