Annual Appomattox Court House NHP and Longwood University Free Civil War Seminar

27th Annual Appomattox Court House NHP and Longwood University Free Civil War Seminar

February 7, 2026

Location: Jarman Auditorium, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Join the National Park Service and Longwood University at the annual free Civil War Seminar on Saturday, February 7, 2026, located in the Jarman Auditorium at Longwood University, Farmville, VA. Noted scholars will present a series of thematically related programs upon "From Manassas to the Big Screen."

This seminar is free and open to the public. No reservations needed. Parking is available on Longwood University campus. The schedule may be subject to change. Lunch is available at the Longwood University Dining Hall.

Event Schedule

Saturday, February 7

8:30 a.m. Doors open

9:00 a.m. Introduction by Dr. David Coles

9:10 a.m. Reclaiming Revolutionary Relics in the Civil War Era
Presenter: Abbi Smithmyer
This presentation reveals the ways objects associated with George Washington became instruments within the proxy war over whether the United States or the Confederacy best represented the American Revolutionary era’s principal values of liberty and equality. Through the exploration of monuments, historic homes, and mementoes that nineteenth-century Americans collected, cherished, and destroyed. This talk demonstrates how the relics linked to the Revolution shaped how the Civil War generation thought about America’s past.

10:15 a.m. First Manassas: Bloody Gateway to War
Presenter: John Hennessy
In advance of the 165^th anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas, former NPS historian John Hennessy revisits the battle and the questions it raises and lessons (learned and forgotten) it teaches us about the war and the American nation at the time. Few events in history more rapidly ingrained themselves into America’s cultural mind than First Manassas. Widely viewed as an existential moment at the time, it turned out not to be, but instead was a milestone in a war that would evolve into something few then imagined.

11:30 a.m. Gone with the Glory: The Civil War in Movies
Presenter: Brian Steel Wills
History comes at us in many fashions. Cinema has offered its own version of the Civil War, often reflecting the times in which films appear and the expectations that audiences of those periods bring with them. Reality is less well served, but the characters and stories that emerge are nevertheless indelible parts of our collective culture and experience. The difficulty in melding stories with facts has been the dilemma of film regarding historical subjects, with Hollywood turning its focus on entertainment values rather than the historical foundation or framework. Nevertheless, in each instance, the Civil War in cinema has provided at least the introductory platform for learning more about the era’s issues, events, and personalities.

12:30 p.m. Lunch

1:45 p.m. The Civil War Generals: Comrades, Peers, Rivals in their Own Words
Presenter: Robert I. Girardi
Nearly 1,000 men on both sides achieved the rank of general during the American Civil War. These men had limited experience leading large bodies of troops in combat. A unique aspect of the Civil War was that many of these men attended the same military academies and served together in the ante-bellum period. They knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and used this knowledge to make decisions during the war. Many of these men wrote about their colleagues in candid and pointed terms. Here, we explore what generals on both sides wrote and said about each other.

2:45 p.m. The Battle of Dranesville: Men and Horses Fell Around Me Like Ten Pins.
Presenter: Ryan Quint
After the guns of Manassas fell silent, the opposing armies grappled for position wondering what would come next. Popular history has us believe that daily briefings reported “All quiet along the Potomac.” Reality was altogether different. In fact, the fall and early winter of 1861 was a hotbed of activity that culminated in the December combat at Dranesville. The Union victory—sorely needed after the string of defeats at Bull Run, Wilson’s Creek, and Ball’s Bluff—was small when measured against what was to come; it also helped shape the bloody years to follow.

For more information contact Dr. David Coles at 434-395-2220 or Patrick Schroeder at 434-352-8987, Ext. 232 or [e-mail].

This annual seminar is sponsored by: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park; The Department of History, Political Science, & Philosophy, and the Center for Southside Virginia History at Longwood University; and Eastern National Bookstore.

 

About the Speakers:

ROBERT GIRARDI
Robert I. Girardi earned a master’s degree in public history from Loyola University of Chicago. He sits on the editorial review board for the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society and edited the Journal's Sesquicentennial issues from 2011-2015. He is a past board member of the Illinois State Historical Society and the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation. He is a past president of the Chicago CWRT and current president of the Salt Creek CWRT. He is the recipient of the Chicago CWRT’s Nevins-Freeman award and the Milwaukee CWRT Iron Brigade Association Award for scholarship. Robert was the keynote speaker at the rededication of the Illinois Monument at Andersonville National Historic Site. He designed the Civil War exhibit for the Bureau County Historical Society in Princeton, IL. He also consulted for the Chicago History Museum on its Civil War exhibits. Robert is the author of numerous essays and articles and has written or edited ten books on Civil War topics.

JOHN HENNESSEY
John Hennessy retired as the Chief Historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, where he worked for the final 26 years of his NPS career. He started his NPS career at Manassas Battlefield. He is the author of books on both battles. The First Battle of Manassas: An End to Innocence, published by Stackpole Books in 2015, and Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas, published by Simon & Schuster in 1993 and once the Main Selection of the History Book Club. His other books, essays, and articles have appeared under the imprint of University of North Carolina Press, University of Georgia Press, Cambridge University Press, LSU Press, and another dozen publications. He lives in Fredericksburg.

RYAN QUINT
Ryan Quint, a native of Maine, earned his degree in history from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. He has worked in the field of public history, including at the George Washington Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg, and the National Park Service. Ryan has been involved with Emerging Civil War (emergingcivilwar.com) since 2013, and his first book, Determined to Stand and Fight: The Battle of Monocacy, was published by Savas Beatie in 2017 as part of the Emerging Civil War Series. Quint’s latest book Dranesville: A Northern Virginia Town in the Crossfire of a Forgotten Battle, December 20, 1861, was published in 2024.

ABBI SMITHMYER
Abbi Smithmyer graduated with her PhD in history at West Virginia University in 2025. While teaching classes at WVU, Abbi’s knowledge on the Civil War era has been bolstered by multiple summers spent working at various historical sites and battlefields including the Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, Petersburg National Battlefield, Manassas National Battlefield Park, and Booker T. Washington National Monument.

BRIAN STEEL WILLS
Brian Steel Wills is the former Director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and Professor Emeritus of History at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA. In addition to leading tours, offering lectures, and conducting programs, Dr. Wills is the award-winning author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War, including biographies of Confederate generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and William Dorsey Pender and Union general George Henry Thomas. He has also written about the Civil War in Virginia and in the movies, as well as a volume that focuses on noncombat deaths in the Civil War. His latest work is Running the Race: The ‘Public Face’ of Charlton Heston, published through Savas Beatie. A graduate of the University of Richmond, VA, and the University of Georgia, he spends time on his farm in Virginia when not traveling and speaking.