November 2019 Volume 26, Issue 1 “We are but few in number but formidable.” -Pvt. James Shelton, 7th Md. Co. B

Remembrance Day, Nov. 23rd, Gettysburg, PA

November 4, 2019— “History is the greatest teacher you will ever have,” James I. “Bud” Robertson

Jr. often told his students. If history is the greatest teacher, many of them might have argued, then he was the second greatest.

Robertson, Alumni Dis-tinguished Professor Emer-itus of History at Virginia Tech, died on Nov. 2 after a long illness. He was 89 years old.

Robertson used vivid sto-ries to bring the American Civil War to life not just for generations of Virginia Tech students, but also for

millions across the world through his award-winning books, frequent television appearances, popular radio essays, and passionate advo-cacy of history.

Dr. Bud, as he liked to be called, grew up poor near the train tracks in Dan-ville, Virginia, with dreams of becoming a railroad en-

gineer. Yet when he asked for a railroad job at the age of 17, the yardmaster, who knew him well, told him to go to college first. The rest is literally history.

Robertson went on to

earn a bachelor’s in history from Randolph-Macon Col-lege and a master’s degree and doctorate, also in histo-ry, from Emory University.

During the 100th anniver-sary of the Civil War, Presi-dent John F. Kennedy asked Robertson to serve as execu-tive director of the United States Civil War Centennial

Commission. At the time, the committee was founder-ing under the pressure of both the emerging civil rights movement and re-gional differences. Robert-

son used his diplomatic tal-ents to shepherd 34 state and 100 local centennial com-mittees into organizing a successful and dignified commemoration.

In 1967, Robertson joined the faculty of Virginia Tech, where his course on the Civil War attracted an average of 300 students each

semester and became the largest class of its kind in the nation. During his 44 years at the university, he taught more than 25,000 Virginia Tech students. In

several instances, he ended up teaching three genera-tions of the same families. Robertson held the C. P. “Sally” Miles Professorship

at Virginia Tech from 1976

until his appointment in 1992 as Alumni Distin-guished Professor, a preemi-nent appointment reserved for recognition of faculty

members who demonstrate extraordinary accomplish-ments and academic citizen-ship. In 1999, Robertson became

founding director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. From its home in the Virginia Tech De-partment of History, the center educates scholars and

the public about the causes and consequences of one of the nation’s most momen-tous conflicts. The center’s annual Civil War Weekend is just one of the ongoing,

vibrant programs that Rob-ertson established.

The consummate teacher was also a celebrated author and editor, with more than 40 books on the Civil War to his credit. One of those works

was based on another of Rob-ertson’s boyhood passions — General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. The book, considered a definitive biography, won eight nation-

al awards and became a key source for a 2003 movie, “Gods and Generals,” for which Robertson served as chief historical consultant. “For fully six decades Bud

Robertson was a dominant figure in his field, and a great encouragement to all who would study our turbu-lent past during the middle of the 19th century,” said Wil-

liam C. “Jack” Davis, former (Continued on page 2)

NOVEMBER

*Nov. 22-23:

FVB Annual Meeting

& Remembrance Day Ceremonies

and Parade

(FVB Event / Company Event)

DECEMBER

Dec. 7:

Christmas in the Field-

Carroll County. Farm Museum,

Westminster, MD

(Individual Event)

First up will likely

be Manassas in No-

vember or December.

Additionally, for

those of you that

miss the sights and

sounds of the field

and haven’t taken

participated for

some time, we

would like to have a ‘reunion’ event in

2020. It would be great to have a ‘max

effort’ event and catch up with both old

and new friends. More info will be

made available as plans develop. If you

are interested, please reach out to the

company e-mail address.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all

at Remembrance Day in Gettysburg.

Don’t forget to polish your buttons,

brush your wool, and to clean your rifle

and bayonet. The 2nd Sgt will be doing

inspections and you don’t want to cross

him early on a Saturday morning.

Thank you all for your participation

and interest in the 7th.

PAGE 2 OUR CAMP JOURNAL

director of the center and himself the author or editor of more than 50 books on the Civil War and the history of the South. “Moreover, amid a conver-

sation that can still become bitter and confrontational, his was a voice for reason, patience, and understand-ing. In the offing, he has become vir-tually ‘Mr. Virginia,’ a spokesperson for the commonwealth past, present,

and future. His voice is now sorely missed — and irreplaceable.” Virginia Tech honored Robertson with emeritus status soon after his retirement in 2011. At the same time,

during the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the war, Robert-son served as an executive committee member of the Virginia Sesquicenten-nial of the American Civil War Com-mission. He also served as executive

producer of “Virginia in the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Remem-brance,” a complimentary DVD pro-vided to every school and library in the commonwealth.

“The next generations must have a knowledge of the past,” Robertson said. “If you do not know where you have been, you have no idea where you should go.” A lecturer of national acclaim, Rob-

ertson also delivered more than 350 radio essays that aired weekly for nearly 15 years on National Public Radio affiliates as far away as Alaska. Those broadcasts featured the stories of the men, women, children, and even

animals who endured the heartbreak of the Civil War. “If you don’t understand the emotion of the war,” he would say, “you’ll never understand the war.”

Under Robertson’s championship, in 2015 the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted “Our Great Virginia,” based on the folk song “Oh, Shenandoah,” as the traditional state song.

“Virginia is the Mother State,” he said. “It should be the leader in all facets of the Republic. This makes the

(Continued from page 1)

(Continued on page 5)

Apologies to our readership for no

content from yours truly over the past

couple months. Having been captured

at Gettysburg, and only recently ex-

changed, I was unable to persuade my

captors to send in my content. It was

great to be back at Cedar Creek, where

I first took the field in 2012. Looking

back I was as fresh a fish as one could

be, wasn’t scared away by the First

Sergeant or the Captain, and met such

terrific people and had such a great

time that I kept coming back. Over the

next couple years attendance and

membership were high during the

150th cycle but fell off precipitously

with our younger members going off to

college and our older members ‘aging

out’, while others pursued interests

outside the hobby or simply no longer

wished to continue taking the field. In

other cases, life just got in the way.

While our current core is ‘few but

formidable’, it’s telling that members

are willing to come out for a day or the

afternoon to participate and spend

time with their pards. The camarade-

rie within the 7th is special and is

what has kept me coming out for 7

years and is what I’ve missed most

during my 2019 absence. In line with

spending more time with our pards

and continuing to educate ourselves,

we’ll be planning an few battlefield

hikes over the next few months. The

hike info will be shared via our e-mail

distribution list if you are interested.

Sgt. Erik Schwetje

President

Pvt William Hart and I arrived at Cedar Creek about 4pm on Friday. On the way out of Maryland, we stopped by the Kennedy Farmhouse where John Brown and his followers spent

the summer of 1859 preparing for the raid on Harper’s Ferry.

This was my first opportunity to get close to the house as there had previ-ously been a chain link fence border-ing the property. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that house that summer (and I’m sure

there were a lot of them). Upon our

arrival in camp we were pleasantly surprised to see 1st Corporal Ring (who had already set up the company dining fly) and Pvt Scott Blumberg. It’s been a while since we’ve seen

Scott and were collectively disap-pointed when he had to leave late on Friday. The camp set up/company street was a bit tight so we put Miss Rizzi’s kitchen tent where Captain Bush’s tent would typically be (our

dear, gallant Captain Bush was cap-tured at Gettysburg and had yet to be exchanged so was not in attendance). Later that evening 2nd Sgt Giovan-

(Continued on page 4)

PAGE 3 OUR CAMP JOURNAL

By 1st Sgt. Eric Schwetje

nini and Pvt Miske arrived. Recollecting Friday night is difficult, but I know that I had a good time clowning around

and catching up. Many thanks to the 2nd Sgt for tucking me in for the night. It was cold, as it always is, and woke to a thin sheet of ice in my cup.

Our numbers were low so we

combined with the 3rd MD and

138th PA. Following company

and brigade drill on Saturday

morning we had dress parade.

Conveniently arriving after drill

and dress parade, and just in

time for dinner, were stragglers

Joyce, Stahl, and Vielleux. Miss

Rizzi and Mrs. Sarah, with some

help from Major Harris kept us

well fed over the weekend (loved

the chicken soup and the roast pig).

Later that day we reenacted the

Battle of Cedar Creek, where we

were held in reserve until General

Sheridan rallied the troops

(‘Sheridan’s Ride’ is my favorite

part of this battle). Corporal Ring

continued to demonstrate his re-

markable ability to fall asleep any-

where, anytime, regardless of

what’s going on around him. After

we drove the rebels from the field

we were able to have supper back in

our original camp. Saturday even-

ing there was a FVB soiree and a

dance near the sutler area. During

the day, Miss Rizzi and Pvt Miske

told us of the ‘yelping’ they heard

the previous night and there was a

very lively debate as to from where

and from whom the yelping ema-

nated from. There was no consen-

sus so I suppose the Friday night

(Continued from page 3)

yelping will continue to be a

mystery for the ages. Saturday

night was warmer than Friday

night but it started to rain

around midnight and it kept

up through Sunday morning.

We awoke on Sunday morning

to find the three stragglers

gone (at least they didn’t gal-

vanize like Caleb ‘Killer’

Gosmeyer did over the sum-

mer). Following breakfast our

dining fly was commandeered

for church services. We reen-

acted the 2nd Battle of Kerns-

town Sunday afternoon. As

always, it was great to see you

all and to catch up.

With respect to our Captain,

see you by the fire.

Editor’s Note:

The Federal Volunteer Brigade

has been asked to command the

Union forces at the 156th Anni-

versary of Cedar Creek in 2020.

No commitment has been made as

of press time.

PAGE 4 OUR CAMP JOURNAL

absence of a state song glaring. The physical beauty and in-comparable history of Virgin-ia need to be transformed as

well into the emotions of mu-sic. ‘Our Great Virginia’ ful-fills that need.” Robertson received numer-ous prestigious honors, includ-

ing three commendations from the Virginia General Assem-bly; the Virginius Dabney Award, the highest recognition given by the Museum of the Confederacy; the Virginia

Press Association’s 2004 Vir-ginian of the Year; the Best Non-Fiction Book Award by the Library of Virginia in 1997; and the Outstanding Professor Award of the Virginia Council for Higher

Education. Both Randolph-Macon Col-lege and Shenandoah University gave him honorary doctorates. One honor in particular was unusual for a historian: In 2008, he was elected to the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. Rob-

ertson spent several years as a faculty rep-resentative from Virginia Tech to the National Collegiate Athletic Association,

(Continued from page 2)

Civil War Re-enactors; America’s Living Historians.

and from 1979 to 1991 he served as faculty chairman of athletics and president of the Virginia Tech Ath-letic Association. Notably, for a histo-

rian immersed in the nuances of ma-jor battles, he also worked as an At-lantic Coast Conference football refer-ee for 16 years. Robertson was a long-time, generous supporter of Virginia Tech. Since

2000, he had sponsored an award hon-oring scholarship in the field of Con-federate history. He was also a mem-ber of the Ut Prosim Society, which recognizes leaders in the philanthrop-ic support of the university.

Not all of Robertson’s generosity to the university was monetary. He was instrumental in establishing a special Civil War collection at the University Libraries at Virginia Tech. He also

donated most of his own 7,000-volume collection — one of the country’s largest private collections of Civil War books — to both that special collection and to Randolph-Macon College.

“Dr. Robertson was so many things: spellbinding lecturer, beloved teacher,

accomplished au-thor, guardian of Civil War history,

big band player, ordained deacon, even football refer-ee,” said Paul Quigley, director of the Virginia Center

for Civil War Stud-ies and the James I. Robertson Jr. Asso-ciate Professor in Civil War Studies. “Above all else he

was a Hokie, un-failingly dedicated to Virginia Tech and the thousands of students he taught here.”

Those students became alumni, of course, and Robertson was especially proud of being recognized as a recipi-ent of the Distinguished Alumni Award. Memorably, he proposed to

his second wife, Elizabeth “Betty Lee” Robertson, in front of a crowd of Hokies at an alumni chapter event in 2010. The following year, the talk he delivered for that chapter was “Sweethearts of the Civil War.”

“The Alumni Association was honored that Bud Robertson held one of its coveted Alumni Distin-

guished Professorships, appointed some 20 years after this university-wide program was originally estab-lished,” said Tom Tillar, former vice president for alumni relations at Virginia Tech. “During that time

and even in his retirement, he spoke at well over 100 alumni chapter, reunion, and other alumni events. On each occasion, his wit, captivat-ing style, and glimpses into history were powerful proof of his bril-

liance as a celebrated historian, his love for Virginia Tech, and his en-dearment to our alumni as a univer-sity treasure.” Robertson’s first wife, Elizabeth

“Libba” Robertson, predeceased him in 2008. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth “Betty Lee” Robertson; his sons, James I. Robertson III and Howard Robertson; his daughter, Beth Brown; his stepson, William

W. Lee Jr.; his stepdaughter, Eliza-beth A. Lee; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that well-wishers consider giving in support of the Virginia Center for

Civil War Studies or the University Libraries at Virginia Tech. The family also requests that people explore their attics for possible Civil War artifacts they might consider donating to enhance the Virginia

Tech special collection. Any dona-tions may be made “in honor of Dr. Bud.” In addition, the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies has estab-

lished a tribute page in Dr. Bud’s honor. Visit it to read remembranc-es of him and to contribute your own stories. “Dr. Robertson was a remarkable person who shared his life and gifts with so many,” said

Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “His service to the nation, the com-monwealth, his profession, and the Virginia Tech community is unpar-alleled. We are incredibly fortunate to have had the great benefit of his

talents for so many years. May we carry Dr. Robertson’s passion for discovery and spirit of service for-ward in his honor.”