Pasadena Civil War Round Table

JOIN US FOR OUR IN-PERSON MEETING ON TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2026 @ 7:15 P.M. FOR A PRESENTATION ON:
“FINDING THE STARS IN YOUR COURSES,” by Austin Krause, Board Member of the Pasadena Civil War Round Table!

Planning a wonderful and memorable Civil War-themed road trip goes well beyond visiting battlefields and military parks.

It involves time, motivation, curiosity, and looking in the right places. Don’t believe those $9.99 Barnes & Noble travel guides. After all, there is no “cookie cutter” Civil War road trip. Believe me - I’ve tried to find it for myself!

For some, it seems too difficult to plan and coordinate such a trip, so they stick to the comfort of armchair readers and online blogs. For others, time is apparently too prohibitive or budget restricts their adventures. They miss out, however, on the magic of history that one can witness in-person when they drive the road - or walk the trail - and experience the Stars in Their Courses for themselves.

Join me as we plan the perfect trip suitable for you, whether you’re a novice history buff seeking the front lines, traveling to see the in-laws and looking for the necessary breaks in between, or are a tried-and-true Blue and Gray weekend campaigner! We will explore and uncover how to find the legacy of the war on our nation’s roadsides and in its museums, and maybe learn something adventurous about ourselves in the process!
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For more: Pasadenacwrt.org

Nearly 162 years ago to the day (May 6, 1864), at the Battle of the Wilderness in central Virginia, Federal units were advancing into the field as Longstreet’s forces marched up the Plank Road.

Lee personally rode forward to the front lines to inspect the Union advance, putting himself in a clear line of enemy fire. It was around this location on the leased farm of the widow Catharine Tapp that members of the Texas Brigade shouted “Lee to the rear!” The lone star soldiers gripped Traveller, Lee’s horse, and demanded his return to safety.

Lee rode back to the safety of the rear and the Texans participated in a decisive counterattack.
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

Come join us for our free, annual Memorial Day observance at historic Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena! We will commemorate the lives of over 600 Civil War veterans buried, here, in Southern California. All ages are welcome and the ceremony starts promptly at 2:00 PM, so don’t miss out!

Time: Monday, May 25th @ 2:00 PM

Location: 2400 N. Fair Oaks Ave.
Altadena, California
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

JOIN US ON TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2026, AT 7:15 P.M. FOR A PRESENTATION ON: “MARRIAGE AND CEREMONY: CIVIL WAR AND SOUTHERN BLACK FAMILY RE/CREATION,” with Dr. Brenda Stevenson, Prof. of History, UCLA!

This talk examines the ways in which once enslaved men, women and children claimed family legality and reality via marriage rituals during and after the Civil War.

In her book, What Sorrows Labour in My Parents’ Breast?, author and historian Brenda Stevenson provides a long overdue concise history to help the reader understand this vitally important African American institution as it evolved and survived under the extreme opposition that the institution of slavery imposed.

Come join us for this enlightening and exciting presentation!
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

The Cathey Brothers of
Co. A, 16th North Carolina Infantry:
Benjamin Cathey (standing), Francis Cathey (left), William Cathey (right)
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

JOIN US ON TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2026, AT 7:15 P.M. FOR A PRESENTATION ON: “THE MAKING OF THE FILM: OWEN BROWN’S BODY,” with Michele Zack, Author/Historian and Pablo Miralles, Historian/Filmmaker!

Remember your California 11th grade history class? Opening the standard textbook whose chapter on the Civil War barely mentioned California or the west… or connected to any place you’d actually been or could easily visit?

Join filmmaker Pablo Miralles and Michele Zack of Altadena’s Owen Brown Gravesite Committee at our April 28 meeting to see the film that will be changing that classroom experience for PUSD and other San Gabriel Valley students.

Miralles worked with the Committee and eminent historians such as William Deverell to produce “Owen Brown’s Body,” a film that anchors an ambitious new teacher professional development program. It uses the local story and a new LA County Landmark, 19th Century gravesite of the famed abolitionist son of John Brown, to bring alive for today’s students our nation’s most serious breach and “second revolution.” (Maybe it will gain our CWRT some young new members!)

Miralles will introduce the 20-minute film. Following it, Miralles and Zack will discuss how it came to be, recent exciting developments in the work of the Owen Brown Committee, and take your questions.
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

JOIN US ON TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2026, AT 7:15 P.M. FOR A PRESENTATION ON:
“BOUTWELL: RADICAL REPUBLICAN AND CHAMPION OF DEMOCRACY,” with author Dr. Jeffrey Boutwell!

George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts was a key figure in American public life for seven decades. As the youngest-ever governor of Massachusetts in the early 1850s, he helped create the Republican Party and became a close ally and friend of presidents Lincoln and Grant during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. While in Congress, he helped write the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and led the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson for seeking to re-establish white supremacist political control in the South. As Revenue Commissioner for Lincoln and Treasury Secretary for Grant, Boutwell helped establish the modern American economy. In the 1870s, Boutwell served in the U.S. Senate where he chaired the committee investigating the Mississippi Plan of 1875 that employed intimidation and violence to re-establish white Democratic control of the state. Remarkably, at the age of 80, Boutwell was asked in 1898 to become president of the Anti-Imperialist League, working with Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, and others to oppose Teddy Roosevelt and America’s annexation of the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. George Boutwell died in 1905, having lived with his family in Groton, Mass. for more than fifty years.

This first major biography by family member Jeffrey Boutwell is as much a history of 19th century America as it is a critique of the failures of governance during a turbulent and formative period in American history. Come join us for an eventful and fascinating evening!
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

JOIN US ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2026, AT 7:15 P.M. FOR A PRESENTATION ON: “SOLDADOS DE LOS ANGELES: COMPANY D OF THE 1ST BATTALION OF NATIVE CAVALRY, CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS,” with Paul Spitzerri, Museum Director of the Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum!

Company D of the 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, California Volunteers, formed during the Civil War, was comprised of Spanish-speaking Californios, some born and raised in California, though most were born in México. The Company was stationed at Camp Drum in Wilmington from 1864-1866 as it engaged in activities throughout southern California, including guard duty in areas supporting the Confederacy, as well as territorial Arizona and northern México in operations against indigenous tribes.

Paul Spitzzeri is Director of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum in the City of Industry, where he has worked since 1988. His B.A. and M.A. in History are from Cal State Fullerton and he has published on regional, state and western American history in journals and anthologies as well as a biography of the Workman and Temple family which won an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History. Paul writes nearly daily on greater Los Angeles history for the Homestead’s blog.
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For more: pasadenacwrt.org

The Beverly Hills Fine Arts Theatre has announced that it will be offering a special premiere of the 1993 film "Gettysburg" on Sunday, February 22nd at 12:30p!

Cinematographer Kees Van Oostrum, Director Ron Maxwell, and other guests to be announced.

Get your $10 tickets now at:
fineartstheatrebh.com

“Christmas has come once more and it is a very beautiful morning here. But Oh! how changed the scene to what it was last Christmas. Here I am in the army today and today twelve months ago I was at home where I could enjoy the blessings of a comfortable house and home of parents and friends and of religious worship, but this Christmas I am surrounded by warriors, cannons, guns, and all kinds of unusual sounds and actions to which I never was accustomed to. But I hope and pray that the good Lord in His tender mercy may soon bring this state of things to an end and restore peace and prosperity to our beloved country again, and turn the hearts of the rulers to peace forever instead of war.”

- Constantine A. Hege
Private,
48th North Carolina Infantry, Co. H
Confederate States Army

Although the Hege family were members of the Moravian Church and opposed to the Civil War, Constantine was obliged to enlist in the Confederate Army. He served for 14 months in Co. H, 48th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, before being captured on 14 October 1863 at the battle of Bristoe Station. After being released from the Old Capitol prison in Washington, D. C., he worked in an iron mill in Bethlehem, Pa. When the war ended, he moved to Salem, N. C., where he started Hege’s Salem Iron Works. In 1877, he obtained a patent for a set of works for circular sawmills, making his iron works known across the country. Hege married Frances Mary Spaugh in 1870; the couple had three children.