Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Internships are sponsored throughout the year at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
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News
November Meeting
November 10, 2025 7:30pm
Jonathan A. Noyalas
Jonathan A. Noyalas holds the Hugh & Virginia McCormick Chair in Civil War History at Shenandoah University and is the director of Shenandoah University's McCormick Civil War Institute. He is the author or editor of seventeen books including most recently General Phillip H. Sheridan: Life, War, and Memory (Routledge) and The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah: The 1864 Valley Campaign's Battle of Cool Spring (Savas Beatie) and has authored more than 100 articles, essays, chapters, and reviews in a variety of popular and scholarly publications. He has appeared on NPR's "With Good Reason," C-SPAN's American History TV, and PCN and consulted on various public history projects with the National Park Service, American Battlefield Trust, National Geographic, and Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District. Prof. Noyalas is the recipient of numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship, including Shenandoah University's Exemplary Teaching Award for the First Year Seminar, Shenandoah's Wilkins Award, and the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia's Outstanding Faculty Award, which is the highest honor that can be awarded to anyone teaching at a college or university in the Old Dominion. lives in northern California and is a recently retired Social Studies and Theater Arts teacher from the Gateway Unified School District. A long-time student of history, Rick also enjoys Civil War Reenacting, which provided much of the background experience for his history of the 72nd New York. He also serves on the board of two Civil War related non-profit organizations and is a frequent contributor to "America's Civil War" magazine.
When Confederate general Jubal Early's army withdrew from Washington, DC, on the night of July 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln wanted Early pursued and destroyed. This presentation, based on Prof. Jonathan A. Noyalas's book The Blood-Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah, will explore that pursuit which culminated along the banks of the Shenandoah River in Clarke County, Virginia, on July 18, 1864, in the Battle of Cool Spring--the largest and bloodiest engagement fought in Clarke County, Virginia, during the conflict. Noyalas's presentation will explore the battle of Cool Spring, how it impacted the Union and Confederate soldiers who fought there and their families, and how what happened on July 18, 1864, sparked a postwar battle among Union veterans.
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​​Our speaker lineup for 2025 is NOW available HERE
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Dinner Meeting Extras!!
At each monthly dinner meeting we offer multiple door prizes, including gift certificates to Brock's Riverside Grill and Riverby Books. We also have dozens of used Civil War and military history books available for a "pay what you will" rate. All book proceeds are donated to the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust.
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Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT)
Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) is a nonprofit organization preserving land associated with the Civil War campaigns of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, The Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. They have preserved nearly 1,700 acres of hallowed local battlegrounds since incorporating in 1996. RVCWRT has raised and donated over $40,000 to support CVBT projects. Our round table is proud to be the 2017 recipient of the CVBT Dr. Michael P. Stevens Preservation Award, whose purpose is "to shine a light on those who have made notable contributions to the preservation of Civil War resources in Virginia." Learn more about this active and important preservation organization at www.cvbt.org.
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Brock's Riverside Grill
Brock’s Riverside Grill, 503 Sophia Street, on the Rappahannock River in historic Old Town Fredericksburg, has been our favorite meeting venue for many years. Brock’s is open for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch year round. Menu is American “steak and seafood” with a southwestern flair. More information is available at Brocksgrill.com. Call 540-370-1820 for reservations.
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A Note from Riverby Books
Riverby Books has been buying and selling quality used books in downtown Fredericksburg since 1996. Our 3-level store houses more than 25,000 volumes for readers, scholars, and collectors alike, with an additional 25,000 volumes of rare and unusual titles found only in our online inventory. We carry titles for all interests and all levels of expertise, with a large selection of American History. We buy books (and whole collections) every day, pay fair prices, price them cheap, and delight in watching our customers take them home. No topic is too obscure. Beach reads, kids books, cook books, antique books and more. Open 7 days a week at 805 Caroline St.
https://www.riverbybooks.com/
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Geoff White Music
Geoff White is from Blowing Rock North Carolina. He has played the fiddle all his life, and has performed in pubs, bars, restaurants, concert halls, and battlefields all across the east coast. Geoff was a member of the bluegrass group Sugar Run for several years. He currently lives in Roanoke. He earned a degree in History from Radford University in 2002.
