We look forward to welcoming you to Blacksburg March 28-30, 2025 for Virginia Tech’s annual Civil War Weekend. You’ll hear from a stellar group of speakers and enjoy fellowship with other history enthusiasts—all in the comfortable surroundings of the Inn at Virginia Tech.
This year’s theme is “Civil War Duos.” The Civil War era fundamentally transformed human connections—from friendships and marriages to political alliances—bringing some Americans together into productive new relationships while driving existing partnerships apart. This year our speakers will explore an array of different partnerships that took new forms amid the challenges of slavery, sectional conflict, and war.
Photograph from the main eastern theater of the war, Battle of Antietam, September-October 1862 courtesy of Library of Congress.
Keynote speaker Ilyon Woo will share the incredible story of the enslaved couple who escaped to freedom in disguise, the subject of her recent Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Master, Slave, Husband, Wife. Our distinguished speakers will also investigate the critical relationships between leaders on both sides: Lincoln and McClellan, Lee and Jackson. We’ll learn about how war transformed romantic pairings in the North and the South. One lecture will explore a more institutional duo, examining how the United States Army and Navy slowly worked their way toward a more harmonious collaboration as the war went on.
You can also join us for our annual Spring Campaign — an optional two-night field trip. From our base in Frederick, Maryland, we’ll take a custom guided tour of the storied battleground of Gettysburg, focusing on the critical military decisions that made July 1863 go down in history. We’ll also explore the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and the Monocacy Battlefield, where Jubal Early’s Confederates threatened to break through to Washington, DC, in July 1864.
Whether this is your first Virginia Tech Civil War Weekend, or you’ve been attending the annual event ever since its first meeting in 1991, we look forward to welcoming you to the group and sharing new perspectives on this endlessly fascinating period of American history. See you in March!
— Paul Quigley
James I. Robertson, Jr. Associate Professor of Civil War Studies
Director, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies
CIVIL WAR WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, March 28
5:30 p.m. Reception
6:30 p.m. Dinner
7:30 p.m. Welcome; Lecture and book signing with Ilyon Woo, author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
Saturday, March 29
7:30 a.m. Breakfast Buffet
9:00 a.m. Christian Keller, “The Great Duo Revisited: Lee, Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy.”
10:00 a.m. Angela Elder, ““I will marry whom I please”: Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie Todd, sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.”
11:00 a.m. Break
11:30 a.m. Michael Becker, ““To the Shores, From the Sea: Army-Navy Duos”
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Book signing
2:00 p.m. Julie Mujic, “When a Copperhead Loves an Abolitionist.”
3:00 p.m. George Rable, “Lincoln and McClellan: Set in Stone?”
6:00 p.m. Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. William C. “Jack” Davis and Sue Heth Bell, “Gabe and Nanny–The Love Letters of a Confederate General and his Wife.”
Sunday, March 30
7:30 a.m. Breakfast Buffet
9:00 a.m. Brian McKnight, “Champ Ferguson, John Hunt Morgan, and the Value of Official Sanction”
10:00 a.m. Paul Quigley, “Preston Brooks, John Brown, and the Righteous Violence of the 1850s”
THE 2025 SPRING CAMPAIGN: GETTYSBURG
From our base in Frederick, Maryland, we’ll take a custom guided tour of the storied battleground of Gettysburg, focusing on the critical military decisions that made July 1863 go down in history. We’ll also explore the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and the Monocacy Battlefield, where Jubal Early’s Confederates threatened to break through to Washington, DC, in July 1864.
Photos from Civil War Weekend 2024:
