Tributes to James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr.

I met Dr. Robertson through some of the early Civil War Weekends at Virginia Tech. These events are some of my fondness memories from my time living in VA. I especially liked the Sunday morning service he gave at the end of the weekend. Afterwards, me and my friends would always go up to talk to him. He was such a kind man, and he made you feel completely at ease in conversation. You couldn’t help but sense that this was a person who had a genuinely good soul. It’s been many years since I’ve seen him, but I’ve never forgotten him – he left a lasting impression on me. I’m so saddened to learn of his passing. My deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

I was fortunate to be among the first group of Virginia Tech graduate students in history taught by Dr. Bud. While my ultimate specialization in earning a Ph. D. in history at Vanderbilt was not the Civil War, the man shaped me in significant ways as a student and scholar. My seminar paper for his graduate Civil War class was the first scholarly work I had published, and to this day dictums from another graduate class, in historiography and methodology, run through my mind whenever I am writing. We stayed in touch periodically over the years and I took great delight in a statement he once made long after I left Blacksburg: “Jim,” he said, “your only real mistake in choosing a career in history was that you made British imperial history, rather than the Civil War, your research area of choice.”

Dr. Bud was inspiring in the classroom; a study in character through his ability to overcome a tendency to stutter and, much later, managing to give up smoking; a sterling example to anyone who studied under him; and ever full of the unexpected. One example of the latter is perhaps worth sharing. The key undertaking for the Civil War seminar for graduate students of which I was a member involved selecting a Virginia regiment and tracing its history through the conflict. The day he returned our research papers, which almost everyone in the class had labored on to the utmost of their ability, he stormed into the seminar room slightly late, looking a bit frazzled and seemingly as mad as a wet hornet. He slammed our papers on the seminar table, and you could readily see a riot of red running across their exposed pages. He then launched into a five-minute diatribe about literary shortcomings, research snafus, and how we collectively had deprived him of a night’s sleep as he labored through our paltry efforts. As we all sat transfixed in a state of abject terror, fearful our graduate careers were about to come to a sudden, ignominious end, he underwent a miraculous change.

“That enough of that,” he said, breaking into the huge grin which was one of his many endearing characteristics. “We’ll get back to it later. Meanwhile, I think we all need to go out for some pizza and a few pitchers of beer. I’m buying.”

Two or three others in that class went on to complete doctoral level studies in history, and I strongly suspect they felt the man’s influence as much as I did. He did a great deal for me in terms of teaching solid research and writing techniques, complimented me when I had my own scholarly books published, and was always a source of both encouragement and inspiration. As a man, a mentor, and a masterful scholar, he was an icon who left an enduring mark. I feel singularly blessed to have known the man and to have taken classes under his tutelage.

Dr. Jim Casada

I never missed one of Dr. Bud’s talks at the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable and never failed to learn something new. I also had the pleasure to sit at the dinner table with him at one of the Stonewall Jackson events at Washington & Lee. I was in attendance when he came to Knoxville for a presentation on the night of 9-11. My favorite presentation was one he gave on Abraham Lincoln and I prepared a slide presentation for my history classes based on that wonderful presentation. I attended Dr. Bud’s last appearance at our roundtable and fortunately got a photo taken with him. Dr. Bud was a Virginia gentleman, an accomplished scholar and also a very down to earth individual. I will miss him but will never forget him.

DR .JAMES “BUD” ROBERTSON WAS INVITED TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE YEARS OF THE WAR.. HE CAME TO SPEAK TO OUR UDC MEETING AND AS USUAL GAVE A WONDERFUL TALK ABOUT THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. I HEARD HIM SPEAK MANY TIMES AND ALWAYS LEARNED SOMETHING NEW. HE WAS A WONDERFUL MAN AND GAVE SO MUCH TO PERSONS INTERESTED IN HISTORY. HE WILL BE MISSED BY SO MANY. MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO ELIZABETH IN THE LOSS OF HER HUSBAND. MAY HE REST IN PEACE. HELEN GRANT

Having attended most Campaigning With Lees over a more then thirty year period, my wife and I have felt quite privileged to call Bud a good and dear friend. A finer and truer gentleman we could not imagine. His character was as exceptional as his knowledge of history. Whenever we saw Bud he met us with a great warm smile and greeting. I am sure we will experience both again one day when we see him in heaven.

I knew Bud, who became my friend for 31 years while working in the History Department. He was always so delightful to be around and was so passionate about History in any form. As a general rule he would come in my office before his class, check on me, tell me his new historical discovery, give me a hug, and a kiss on the cheek, wishing me a good day! I am saddened by his passing and am sending his family my love and sincere sympathies.

I heard Dr. Bud speak at the annual Civil War weekends in March at VT in Blacksburg and Roanoke many times. In 2007 he spoke at a small gathering of alums in Greensboro. His short biography of RE Lee was just out and he graciously spent a good 10 minutes talking with me about Lee, then signed my book. Never forget it. I didn’t attend VT as an undergrad. I hate because of that I never got to take a class under him.

Virginia Tech has lost a great man in Dr. Bud. While I never had a class with him, I spent 1 month travelling in Europe with him and several other Va Tech students in 1979. I got to know him outside of academia and only wish I had the opportunity to take one of his classes. Now that he’s in heaven, I’m sure that he will be able to meet all of the men and women he so eloquently wrote about. I am sure he is having a grand time.

Virginia & all of the United States of America have lost a national treasure.I had the honor & pleasure of meeting Dr. Bud & listening to his spell binding stories on a few occasions while a member of the Richmond Civil War Roundtable. His accomplishments and his generous nature to share his knowledge is beyond compare.
Dr. Bud will be sorely missed by so many. Rest In Peace.

Our Civil War Round Table in New Jersey had the great good fortune to have Dr. Bud make several presentations to us over the years. His last visit, accompanied by his gracious wife Betty, was in June of this year. As always, he provided a wonderful, spell-binding talk, ending in a standing ovation from the packed conference room. in 2000 we instituted our annual James I. “Bud” Robertson Award in his honor for the most outstanding new book on Confederate history each year. The Civil War community has lost a giant. Dr. Bud will be missed by all.

My wife, Barb, and I were lucky enough to be among a group of Virginians in the 1970s and 1980s who came into contact with Bud Robertson often enough to call him a good friend. While working at William & Mary in about 1977, we attended a student affairs conference at Virginia Tech. We learned that Bud was giving his acclaimed end-of-semester “common soldier” presentation to his Civil War class. Fortunately, it was in a large auditorium so Barb and I were able to skip out of the student affairs session and attend Bud’s program, instead. It was spellbinding and I signed up for many of his Campaigning With Lee seminars in the following years and enjoyed them all. In fact, when Bud learned through the grapevine that I didn’t have the money to attend the seminar one summer, he sent me a letter telling me not to send any tuition but to “come gratis this year because you have graciously agreed to organize our two all-day bus outings.” He was THAT kind of guy.

I met my beloved husband, Richard Sommers, at a Campaigning with Lee seminar, so you can add matchmaker to Bud’s many accomplishments. Dick had great respect for Bud and treasured his friendship, as did I. The Civil War soldier came vividly alive through his stories and he shared his considerable knowledge so effectively. I envision Bud and Dick meeting again to share ideas. Bud was a magnificent man.

So sad to hear of Bud’s passing. I remember so clearly a meeting we had at
the Montgomery County (MD) Round Table when I asked Bud why he thought our
country was so successful over two centuries and several political crises.
He answered in one word: “compromise.” I will never forget that. His legacy
will live on.

Bud Robertson lived an impressive life filled with success as a teacher at Virginia Tech, as a publishing scholar, as an editor, and as a historian who spent a great deal of time reaching non-academic audiences of many kinds. His love of history, especially that of the Civil War and of his home state of Virginia, translated effectively to all those who heard him speak during a career that lasted more than half-a-century. He was a model for anyone who values the need to bridge the gap between academic and popular history.

His name was Tom Smith, and he changed my life. He lived in the top floor apartment on the right at the front of 9700 Foxridge in Blacksburg. I lived in the bottom apartment on the right of the same building. We spent most of our free time talking to the two girls that lived on the floor between us. Tom Smith, was as he might say it “a good looking dude,” a finance major, who prefaced all remarks with, “Hey Man.” He was like a surfer except he was from Richmond. We became friends. He got me playing golf again. We went to Masters golf tournament together. He used to tell ladies out in clubs that we were Tom and Tom, TNT Dynamite.
In the fall of 1981, Tom said to me, “Hey man, you should take this Civil War class. I think you would really like it.” Up to that time, I was more interested in the American Revolution, and I hate to say this out loud because it might incense my Hokie Brethren, but I was interested in Thomas Jefferson.
I signed up for the class in the spring 1982 quarter. VT was still on quarters, not semesters then. I went to McBryde 100, a gigantic room that held at least 300 students in the bottom of the huge building named for former VT President John McBryde. It was about 9 a.m. when the teacher entered the room and mounted the stage. When James I. Robertson, Jr. opened his mouth, I heard the familiar Danville accent. I joined him halfway through the Civil War as the fall quarter covered the coming of the war and the early stages.
This was for me like Saul on the road to Damascus. Looking back, it was a moment that changed my life. While Bud might find it humorous as he is an ordained Episcopal minister, who loves to talk about Chaplains in the Civil War. From that day thirty-seven years ago to this this day there is nothing I would rather do than sit in a big auditorium and listen to him talk about the Civil War.
Bud passed away on Saturday. The last time I saw him was in my mother’s hometown of Augusta, Georgia, where I was visiting family and noticed he was speaking to their Civil War Round Table. He looked up at me and said, “What are you doing here?” I told him I came for class. He liked that!
He was the faculty representative to the NCAA for Virginia Tech. As Tech’s Faculty Chairman of Athletics and President of the Virginia Tech Athletic Association from 1979-1991 he was on the committee that brought Frank Beamer back home to Blacksburg. In 2008, Bud became a member of the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.
When I knew Dr. Robertson as a student, he was an ACC football official. He spent sixteen years doing that. Occasionally, I would see a coach berate him on the sidelines. One memorable memory is the time I saw Clemson coach, Danny Ford, eviscerate my Civil War professor on national television. Someone asked him about it in class and got eviscerated themselves.
I had Bud for two Civil War classes and one class called Representative Americans. Part of the grade for the latter was to teach the class one day during the quarter about a person from American History. Again, with apologizes to Hokie Nation, I chose Thomas Jefferson. Never in my life have I been more mortified to stand up in front of a group of people and talk because I knew that if I did not do a good job, the sharp knife of Robertson was waiting to cut me into little pieces, eviscerated. Until that time talking in front of a group of people terrified me, a surprise no doubt to those who hear me now, but that day changed my life too. If I can survive talking in front of “Bud,” no historical association or civil war roundtable is going to bother me.
I loathed speech class at Surry Community College in the late 1970s and once at Virginia Tech in the early 1980s, I recount the sheer terror of standing in front of James I. “Bud” Robertson to teach his class Representative Americans on Thomas Jefferson. I survived, and now I think nothing of getting up in front of a group to talk about history. This because I know my subject much better now than I did then, and my confidence has grown. I came to feel that it was important to talk about the history that interested me.
Bud came to help me raise money for the Bassett Historical Center over a decade ago. I picked on him by showing slides during his introduction pointing out that over the years Bud has made friends with many important people. I showed a photo of Robert Duvall and Hokie Bird saying there were two of Bud’s best friends. Bud consulted on the movie Gods and Generals starring Robert Duvall as Robert E. Lee.
It is with a great deal of pride that I saw my former professor on the History Channel and on Blue Ridge Public Television. I listened to him for fourteen years on public radio on Friday mornings. They released CDs of his talks. Stonewall Jackson’s students at The VMI wrote many dreadful things in the margins of their workbooks housed in Lexington. I have placed my notebooks from the Civil War class in Special Collections at Virginia Tech, but there is nothing bad in them about my professor.
Bud worked as in a funeral home while in graduate school at Emory University in Atlanta under Bell Wiley. Bud wrote on his mentor quoting an Atlanta newspaperman saying, “He was the first man I knew personally who could take hold of the past and make it come alive.” Anyone who thinks history is boring never had Bud Robertson as a teacher. I have seen him bring grown men to tears talking about the Civil War and put people on the floor laughing while he talked about embalming practices during the Civil War. As he likes to say he is the world’s leading authority on the subject. The fact that he is the only one in the world interested in that subject is irrelevant to the title. Seriously, a great teacher brings his subject to life. I was blessed with a great teacher. On the dedication page of my book on Patrick County in the Civil War, you will see a dedication to my father who is here tonight with my mother, who also has a book dedicated to her. Just underneath you will see a quote from my Civil War father. “You will never understand what the United States is until you understand what the Civil War was.”
Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. of Virginia Tech often said, “One can never understand what the United States is until one understands what the Civil War was.” The war is still with us today.
My Civil War professor at Virginia Tech encouraged audiences and the largest Civil War class in the nation to visit those cemeteries and take the time to listen and meditate on the Civil War. He spoke of “Americans who loved their country more than they loved life itself. That is the greatest legacy that comes out of that war, and we must never forget it.”
In 2011, I went back to college. My professor Alumni Distinguished Professor James I. “Bud” Robertson, Jr. was retiring from teaching the largest Civil War class in the country after over half a century at Virginia Tech. I took the opportunity when in Blacksburg to do some research on William T. Sherman and his march through Georgia and the Carolinas for my friend R. Wayne Jones for a book about the Battle of Aiken, a cavalry fight between Joseph Wheeler and Judson Kilpatrick.
Bud taught then in the Colonial Room of the Squires Student Center, but in my day, it was 100 McBride Hall. In 1982, I sat in on my first quarter of Civil War with him and it changed my life. To this day I am still amazed at how he brings the war to life and keeps the attention of twenty somethings most of whom didn’t know or care about Lee, Lincoln and much less Jefferson Davis and U. S. Grant. This was reinforced to me as I sat waiting for class to begin. The students behind me were bemoaning the fact they did not have DVR to record a recent showing of Gettysburg on Turner Classic Movies and one male regretted not seeing Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, which made me laugh. Then a very attractive tall and blonde coed came in engaging the crew behind me and during the course of the conversation state that she hated that the Civil War class was about to end. She said she wished this class could go on forever. What better compliment could a teacher have, and I am sure Bud would have enjoyed the fact it was an attractive female who said it.
When Bud came in, I spoke to him briefly and I was pleased to see his nearly eight decade old eyes light up and a big smile saying to me he could not believe I would come to class. Bud then came to tell us all how much he hated computers, but that he had to do something called a PowerPoint presentation and that with the help of another young coed he had discovered something called Google and that there are images on there of everything. He had most of us in stitches laughing at something we had known for years. Computers were just coming into vogue in 1982 when I started at Virginia Tech and a personal computer sat on a desk and was called an Apple 2E or an IBM PC with 640K memory. My how things have changed.
Well, it was my “last lecture” with my professor at Virginia Tech. He spoke about “Why the South lost the war” concentrating on Jefferson Davis and in his inability to get along with most of his generals, his vice-president Alexander Stephens, and the Confederate Congress. The fifty minutes passed much too quickly and although the time passed way to quickly and I had heard the talk before I remembered why this man meant so much to me. He could bring dry and boring material to life with humor and a presentation that still marvels my mind.
Bud used to say that, “History is the greatest teacher you will ever have.” He did not have James I. Robertson, Jr. as a teacher, the greatest teacher I ever had.

For me Heaven will not be Heaven unless there is a history symposium at least once a week. For this week’s symposium they are going to have to set out extra chairs to handle the larger than normal crowds, for I am sure the special guest will be Dr. James I. “Bud” Robertson. In my humble opinion, Dr. Robertson is the greatest Civil War scholar and teacher ever. It was my pleasure to serve as his graduate assistant for two years (2000-2002) where I learned from him every day. In my academic life there is no greater influence on my teaching than him. He was the greatest story teller I have ever listened to. If I am even half as good as he was I will consider myself a success. Though we did not talk often, I will miss knowing he is around to answer my questions and give me advice and support. He was an amazing historian, mentor, teacher, husband, father, and my friend.

I am so saddened to hear of Dr. Bud‘s passing. Although not a history major I too spend many hours in McBride 100 listening to his stories, not lectures, on the War between the States. His love and passion for Virginia drew me in and made me proud to be a Virginian. He was a friend to many historical societies and truly embodied our motto “Ut Prosim” . The likes of him will never pass this way again. Truly he was a Virginia Gentleman. Rest well Dr. Bud, under the shade of the trees.

I feel blessed to have taken Dr. Robertson’s class as an undergrad and attended ~15 Civil War Weekends. His words live on in his books I own. He had a wonderful way of making you feel immersed in the period. He was a wonderful ambassador for Virginia Tech and leaves a legacy few can match. He will be sorely missed.

I was a History major and grad student at VT when Dr. Robertson was Chairman of the History Dept. back in the mid/late-’70s. I remember him instilling the fear of God into us in the “Professional Study of History” graduate seminar that he never wanted to hear from a librarian or archivist that we had not followed their instructions as to the use and return of materials. I still think of that whenever I enter a library. I got to see him several times in later years when the Alumni Association brought him here to Tampa Bay for events, and he was nice enough to sign several of his books. R.I.P., Dr. Robertson.

As a child I remember listening to Dr. Robertson’s Civil War series on the local public radio station, fueling my growing love of the Civil War and Virginia history. When I met Dr. Robertson at a lecture at the Homestead Resort when I was 13 I told him that I wanted to be as good of a historian as him when I grew up. One of the reasons I came to Virginia Tech upon graduation was because he was here. As a Virginia Tech student I was fortunate to be one of his students, taking his Civil War classes during my first year. He always taught us that if we couldn’t understand the stories and emotion of the Civil War we could never understand the war. In no other class did I see more students moved to tears by history as in his.

With Bud’s passing the university, Commonwealth, and the field of Civil War studies has lost a giant.

Bud was a dearly loved part of our Civil War Cruises on the steamboats of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. His Civil War church service was inspiring! He was one of my heroes!

It is sad to lose any one of note but to lose a true historian in this time of historical trouble is a disaster. I live in England and am a American civil war reenactor so did not know Dr Bud only from his books. my condolences and prayers go out to his family.

Dr. Robertson was one of my favorite people that I was fortunate enough to know in my life. Several years ago, as I was serving as the chapter president of the Southwest Virginia chapter of the Tech Alumni Association, Dr Bud so graciously agreed to come to our area for several speaking engagements. Because of that, many of us became aquatinted with him.
Not only did we get to know him, he became endeared to us. The one thing that I always said about him was that he was the only person that I ever knew that could have an audience laughing uncontrollably one minute and have them in tears of sadness in the next minute. Many people here will always be grateful to him for visiting with us and sharing his vast knowledge about the Civil War..
He will be sorely missed not only as a great Hokie but also as a great Virginian and a great American.

During my 30 years as a communicator in University Relations at Virginia Tech, I got to know Bud Robertson because I love history. I had always wanted to take one of his classes but my work schedule was perpetually too busy. I have every one of his books, which he signed personally. He wrote the foreword for the last of my books on Virginia, which focused on the Civil War. While he was a consummate scholar, he was also one of the most gracious persons I have known and a legend in every way. What an honor to have known him.

Dr. Robertson was a remarkable person who shared his life and gifts with so many. His service to the nation, the commonwealth, his profession, and the Virginia Tech community is unparalleled. 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 forward in his honor.

For fully six decades Bud Robertson was a dominant figure in his field, and a great encouragement to all who would study our turbulent past during the middle of the 19th century. Moreover, amid a conversation that can still become bitter and confrontational, his was a voice for reason, patience, and understanding. In the offing, he has become virtually ‘Mr. Virginia,’ a spokesperson for the commonwealth past, present, and future. His voice is now sorely missed — and irreplaceable.