robertson. [applause] [indistinct chatter] >> learn more about the people and events that shaped the civil war and reconstruction every saturday at 6 p.m. eastern, only on american history tv here on c-span3. >>

robertson speak this morning. in that book, like his talk today, he has a great empathy for the subjects that we love so much. that empathy is it essential to being very business-oriented. -- a very good historian. it is great to see dr. robertson and have an opportunity to thank him for all he has done for the field and his influence on my own scholarship. when i started the book, i set out to find the one man who could stand for all of the experiences of the approximately in theon and listed

robertson. he's a tech graduate himself, holds a master's degree in government from the university of richmond and uses those credentials to teach young people since 1979, where he taught at richmond community high school. much of the current staff of the battlefield, i already mentioned, had the good fortune of knowing both david, mary beth, his mother, and david's father edwin, who very good naturedly and with great patience welcomed many inquisitive park service historians to his farm over the years, graciously allowing our groups, eager to see this historic group, the right to step on this historic land. in the park service, we talk about stewardship, we try to take care of our sites, all national treasures. the adams family has treated their portion of the battlefield with respect and gentleness. they are great stewards and we are extremely grateful for that. again, thank you, david, for being with us this evening. [ applause ] >> good evening. i wish to thank dave ruth, superintendent of t

robertson. [applause] dr. robertson: thank you, christie, for those undeserved but very deeply appreciated remarks. we spenty gratitude, many years going down the same paths. he has more military than i. i am more social than he is, so we complement one another rather than compete. it's a pleasure to be here for this particular occasion, because on one of those rare instances, we will be concentrating not only on battles, not only on the leaders, but on the common folk, who are the bedrock of this nation. history is the best teacher you will ever have. from it, we learn the mistakes and we learn the achievements of those who came before us. and from history, we gain a better sense of direction and confidence as we make our journey through allies. similarly, history is heritage. tear down the basement and the whole house will collapse. thus, meeting such as this have enormous value. they impart to us a vital fact, namely, the past is human. it's not red and blue lines on the battle map, and little box that says

robertson trained at emory under the late bill wily. it truly can be said, if you will pardon a slightly vernacular, nonacademic expression, that the student has done the mentor proud. as you will see from our program, from your program, our first speaker is sy bunting who will offer answers to the question what was grant like. followed by bud robertson with insights regarding grant on the eve of the wilderness campaign. folks, i know we are in for a good time. and i give you now josiah bunting. [ applause ] >> i need to tell you at the beginning that -- bud robertson is not only a great historian but a practitioner of the fine art of refereeing college football games. and i first got to know him at hampton sydney college about 35 years ago. and, if you are in the football refereeing business, you get used to taking a lot of abuse. and, this was a game between hampton sydney and sowanti. you can imagine the level of football being played. and i asked dr. robertson, a little bit about his saturday afternoon profession. and then he said,

willis robertson of virginia. robertson had signed the 1950s southern manifesto pledging massive resistance to racial integration, only three u.s. senators refused to sign. estes of tennessee, al gore senior, and lyndon johnson of texas. robertson's son, senator robertson's son, pat, had had a dramatic religious conversion after yale law school, pat robertson is a very unusual pentecostal, in terms of his class origins. pat robertson established -- is an early form of the christian broadcast network. he refused in 1966 to campaign for his father. he told his father he had been wrong. he was continuing to be wrong. and it created a tension. so there are -- you know, normally one -- you know, one does not think -- in that context of pat robertson, but there is some redemption and some changing of the guard that does occur. >> you say that in 1968 johnson kind of threw in the towel when he essentially gave up, that's when the american people became disloyal. later on in your book you do a thing on the mass media, gre

robertson. he's a tech graduate himself, holds a master's degree in government from the university of richmond and uses those credentials to teach young people since 1979, where he taught at richmond community high school. much of the current staff of the battlefield, i already mentioned, had the good fortune of knowing both david, mary beth, his mother, and david's father edwin, who very good naturedly and with great patience welcomed many inquisitive park service historians to his farm over the years, graciously allowing our groups, eager to see this historic group, the right to step on this historic land. in the park service, we talk about stewardship, we try to take care of our sites, all national treasures. the adams family has treated their portion of the battlefield with respect and gentleness. they are great stewards and we are extremely grateful for that. again, thank you, david, for being with us this evening. [ applause ] >> good evening. i wish to thank dave ruth, superintendent of t

robertson. he's a tech graduate himself, holds a master's degree in government from the university of richmond and uses those credentials to teach young people since 1979, where he taught at richmond community high school. much of the current staff of the battlefield, i already mentioned, had the good fortune of knowing both david, mary beth, his mother, and david's father edwin, who very good naturedly and with great patience welcomed many inquisitive park service historians to his farm over the years, graciously allowing our groups, eager to see this historic group, the right to step on this historic land. in the park service, we talk about stewardship, we try to take care of our sites, all national treasures. the adams family has treated their portion of the battlefield with respect and gentleness. they are great stewards and we are extremely grateful for that. again, thank you, david, for being with us this evening. [ applause ] >> good evening. i wish to thank dave ruth, superintendent of t

robertson is an excellent editor. he would generously markup manuscripts, transforming them from white to almost entirely red pages with his red pencil. his graduate school found of buying christmas presents for him was easy, buying a box of red pencils were easy any put them to good use. for 44 years, dr. robson was the -- dr. robertson was the alumni distinguished professor of history. i must ask, how many in this church today attended his classes over the years? that is wonderful. i was fortunate to have attended many of his lectures. i was always amazed. in that mcbride auditorium, for those virginia tech alumni seated here, hundreds would fill the auditorium to overflowing with students from every department including athletes, scientists, architects -- all spellbound in the way dr. robertson made history, live. history, in my -- made history come alive. in my opinion, if there were more teachers like the dr. robertson and the school system, we would not question why students do not understand or care about ameri

robertson: yes. and the early part of your question, citizenship will become a deal and some of the removal treaties. -- andve us your land" it was not state citizenship, it was united states citizenship. there was a group just east of where i am in central oklahoma, the citizen pottawatomie nation, and the citizenship was part of the removal deal, they were granted u.s. citizenship. i do not think it is so much -- there are two parties we are talking about here, so i cannot really speak to any sort of collective congressional animus toward native people. native peoples were not particularly interested in united states citizenship. it is not exactly a blessing, right? they were citizens of their own nation and happy to live as citizens of cherokee nation or chickasaw nation or whatever. there are individual cases of sort of tribal citizens, exactly as you say, sort of coming a culture he did through -- acculturated maybe through marriage ended become citizens and leave their tribal communities, but,

robertson opened us up in true style. we cannot have the body of knowledge about the american civil war that we do today if it wasn't for dr. robertson. i am absolutely thrilled to have caroline janney back here in the valley. and back in virginia. we were so graced and blessed to have you on the panel today. kristi coleman's remarks were remarkable. and the work she has been doing in richmond on behalf of the monuments commission there. it has been daunting and was a very interesting days it was very interesting to have her come talk to about -- come talk to us about all she is doing. and john koski is a wealth of knowledge on many topics. if you ever want to have lunch with him, i'm sure he would allow you. if there is anything that anybody knows about the confederate battle flag, i don't know who that would be. thank you for being with us today. it has been a wonderful day today and it begs the question, why would the shenandoah valley battlefield foundation host this event? there are other battlefield preservation org

robertson -- it's not your money. and this is what has the american people so worked up. $8,000 is a lot of money. $6500 goes a very long way. for most families today. and i would argue, that the invisible man there, mr. neely, if he had thought this was his money, we wouldn't be here today. mr. chairman, i yield back. thank you. >> i thank the gentleman. and i would note for the record that we have not been able to get a clarification whether it's 6 or 10. it appears it could be 10 round trips with family in some cases, costing over $100,000 to find out what vegas was like. with that, we go to the gentleman from another region. the gentleman from texas. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i generally applaud yours and the committee's selection of witnesses, but you've left out one important witness in that hearing. and that's the mind-reader. maybe he could tell us what some of these people were thinking when they did that. i do have a couple of comments and questions that hopefully you all could clear up for me. i'm rea

lindsay robertson is the

robertson, bud has been a giant.has distinguished for many other members of academicia, with a tremendous commitment to the public's engagement in history. he writing so you can read and understand it. he speaks in a way that -- the most popular history classes in virginia tech and maybe the whole world during his tenure. all of that is born of his if you work in a park that tells part of jackson's story one of mea little worries was the keynote speaker would be here on time, and then i remembered he wo a biography of jackson, and he was actually here before i was, which shouldn't surprise you. it's a refrain heard often when we talk about questions or matters of history. what does robertson say? i would suggest there's not a agreeder compliment. this anniversary business is not new to dr. james i. robertson. point him as executive director of the nation beleaguered which he quickly righted. in between the crennel tenial, he strode proudly through one of the greatest careers of teaching and writing that any of us wil

robertson. [cheers & applause]. >>> thank you, christie, for those undeserved but very deeply appreciated remarks. and i add my gratitude too. we spent many, many years going down the same path, so he is more military than i and i am more soldier than he is, so we complement one another rather than compete. it's a pleasure to be here for this particular occasion. on one of those rare instances we will be concentrating not on the battles or the leaders, but on the common folk who are the bed rock of this nation. history is the best teacher you will ever have. from it we learn the mistakes and we learn the achievements of those who came before us. and from history, we gain a better sense of direction and competence as we make our journey through allies. history is heritage. tear down the basement and the whole house will collapse. meetings such as this have enormous value. they impart to us a vital fact: namely the past is human. it's not blue lines on a battle -- a little box that says smith's di

robertson. hour, author gordon ray talks about the significance of the battle of cold harbor. and then a panel of historians and representatives of the national park service co commemorate the conclusion of the overland campaign. >>> next on the civil war, historians and officials from the national park service commemorate the beginning of the overland campaign which took place in virginia 150 years ago in may and june of 1864. the ceremony includes keynote remarks by civil war scholar james robertson, who explains the strategy employed by union general ulysses s. grant against the confederates and how the campaign impacted the war as a whole. this event took place in spotsle vain yeah county, virginia, at fredricksburg and the national military park. it's just under an hour. >> as the armies of grant and lee marched in may of 1864natio. it's just under an hour. >> as the armies of grant and lee marched in may of 1864 the victory or defeat depended on their effortsfrom the new york herald april

robertson. dr. paul levengood, david adams, a close personal friend who i'm happy to say and steward of a large portion of the cold harbor battlefield. our readers, ashley whitehead luskey and michael gorman and a special thanks to our chorus from the lee davis high school. thank you all very much for being with us in this program tonight. [ applause ] >> for the last week and a half, many of you have followed in the footsteps of union and confederate armies across the north anna and the pamunkey rivers, the totopotomy creek, at haws shop, bethesta church, and near here at the cold harbor crossroads. tonight we will pause to ponder the significance of these stories and what they meant to the veterans of both armies and generations of americans who came after. as we do that, we need to acknowledge the hard work of so many who joined with us in remembering and commemorating this unforgettable part of our shared history. from its own commemorative events at north anna to supporting our events here,

and particularly, with the dedicated guidance of lindsey robertson, jack baker, mr. butterfield and many others that i see here today. preservation virginia is very pleased to be partnering with the virginia museum of history and culture. and we thank them for their participation and for hosting all of us here today. we are especially honored by the presence of our participants from the virginia tribal nations as well as representatives of the cherokee nation and the poach creek who are also here today. i want to thank and acknowledge our symposium sponsors who helped make this possible. the jesse ball fund and davenport and hersh her. preservation virginia has been the steward of the john marshall house and we have been caring for it since 1911 and help us interpret the legacy of chief justice marshall. this is a house where marshall lived for 45 years and it provides insights into his life and work. not only as a well known and significant american jurist, but also as a man who was a family man. a husband, a father, contributing to the civic life of the city despit

robertson. i am absolutely thrilled to have caroline janey back here in the valley and back here in virginia. we were so graced and blessed to have you with us on the panel today. christy coleman's remarks were remarkable and the work she's been doing in richmond on behalf of the monuments commission there has been daunting, and it was very, very interesting to have her come and talk to us about all of that that she's been doing. and john coski is a wealth of knowledge on many topics. if you ever have a chance to go have lunch with him, i'm sure he would wow you. if there is anybody that knows anything more about the confederate battle flag, i don't know who it would be, and john, thank you so much for being with us today. it's been a wonderful day, and it begs the question once again, why would the shenandoah battlefield foundation host this event? there are other battlefield preservation organizations, national organizations, local organizations that are doing everything that they possibly can

now here's cara robertson. [applause] >> thank you. i'm not expecting a call, this is just to make sure i don't speak too long. thank you so much for coming, and particularly on such a beautiful day. also i think that when you've been working on the subject as long as i have, there is always the fear that you are involved in some sort of intellectual stockholm syndrome. and so, it's nice to know that once the bookcase are actually out that there are some people that want to hear a little bit more about it. when i thought i would do is tell you a little bit about what drew me into the case to give you a sense of what my approaches. and then, although it is a very for mueller case to many people, i'll give you a little bit of background about the story so that we're all kind of on the same page for the question and answer period. and i look forward to knowing what it is that grabs you about the case. i started out by thinking that something like this. a great public trial would be a good way to get a window into the gilded age, which was

robertson. at just 31 years old president kennedy appointed him as executive director of the nation's beleaguered commission for the centennial of the civil war. which he quickly righted. more recently he's been a key member of virginia's commission for the civil war us is skwi centennial bringing smart, scholarly guidance to what is widely considered to be the most successful commission in the nation by far. and between the centennial and sesquicentennial, he spoke proudly through one of the greatest careers of teaching and writing that any of us will ever see. he was the alumni distinguished professor in history at virginia tech for 44 years. he has written 18 books including the greatest of all biographies of stonewall jackson. today, as ourcis keynote speake he will speak to us about the opening of the 1864 oafland campaign. we are very honored to have with us today dr. james i. robertson. >> thank you john, very much. by the invitation to be the keynote speaker on this awesome occasion in h

bud robertson. [ applause ] >> thank you, kevin and good morning, everyone. for the first time in my 60-year career, i must say that i take no pleasure in the talk i'm about to give. yet it is time that the other side be heard in this monument. further, as the keynote speaker for your conference and i'm humbled by that and the fact that i'm the heldest member of the cast by a number of years, i will occasionally drift to discuss the national issues of which civil war monuments are a part and to the factors that lay behind the insanity under which we live in many sections. i understand and i respect those whose friendship i may damage here. with that being said, once we fought the civil war, that four-year blood bath was the most vital moment as a nation. slavery was the underlying issue behind the war, but not the only issue. not the only issue. state rights still hovered over the land. the limits of federalism were far from resolution. and no one seemed to realize that easily the emotions can conquer reasonable thinking. the united states in which you and i

robertson. at just 31 years old president kennedy appointed him as executive director of the nation's beleaguered commission for the centennial of the civil war. which he quickly righted. more recently he's been a key member of virginia's commission for the civil war sesquicentennial bringing smart, scholarly guidance to what is widely considered to be the most successful commission in the nation by far. and between the centennial and sesquicentennial, he strode proudly through one of the greatest careers of teaching and writing that any of us will ever see. he was the alumni distinguished professor in history at virginia tech for 44 years. he has written 18 books including the greatest of all biographies of stonewall jackson. today, as our keynote speaker, he will speak to us about the opening of the 1864 overland campaign. we are very honored to have with us today dr. james i. robertson. >> thank you john, very much. please know i'm deeply humbled by the invitation to be the keynote speaker on

robertson, would you know? >> i think the gentleman hit on something which is we appreciate things being centralized but one of the questions is, do we have high ranking high paid civil servants in these regions going every back, because they're not responsible, perhaps we're paying more than we should support responsibility not met. >> my understanding is that in -- i believe all the regions, the regional commissioners are paid more than the regional administrators. >> but more than $100,000? >> significantly. >> i believe both of them are over that number, yes. >> thank you. >> mr. chair. >> yes. the regional commissioners are paid quite a bit. the regional administrator is at the gs-15 level. >> which would put him quite a bit below sas. mr. chaffetz is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ms. johnson, with whom did you collaborate the development of your testimony submitted? did you collaborate with anybody in the development of your testimony? >> i wrote my testimony, and i discussed it

robertson. [applause] -- ladies and gentlemen, dr. robertson. [applause] dr. robertson: thank you, christie, for those undeserved but very deeply appreciated remarks. many, many years going down the same path. and imore military than i more social than he is. so we complement one another rather than compete. it's a pleasure to be here for this particular occasion, because on one of those rare instances, we will be concentrating on the battles, not on the leaders, but on the common folk, who are the bedrock of this nation. history is the best teacher you will ever have. from it, we learn the mistakes and we learn the achievements of those who came before us. ad from history, we gain better sense of direction and confidence as we make our journey through allies. similarly, history is heritage. tear down the basement and the whole house will collapse. thus, meeting such as this have enormous value. they impart to us a vital fact, namely, the past is human. it's not red and blue lines on the battle map, and little box that says smith's division or joses brigade, t

robertson? is that right? do you think courts aren't well equipped to handle these kinds of classified evidence, secret, you know, creepy programs? >> look, i could not agree more. the truth is that most federal judges defer almost automatically to the justice department. they bring in a guy called a security officer. they tell you what you have to do. they bring you a safe and put it in your office. but you don't know how to open the thing most of the time. your lock words may or may not be cleared. no matter what kind of classified information you're handling, it's difficult. it's difficult to handle it. it's difficult to deal with it. but more than that there is this deference that judges pay to the executive branch of the government in all matters that have to do with national security. and frankly i think they should defer. not only because it's a separation of powers question, but because what do we know about intelligence? what do we know about the merits of -- we're not trained intellige

now here's cara robertson. cara: thank you. i'm not expecting a call, this is to make sure i don't speak too long. thank so you much for coming, particularly on such a beautiful day. when you've been working on a subject as long as i have, there's also a fear you're involved in some sort of intellectual stockholm syndrome. so it is nice to know once the book is actually out there are people who might want to hear a little more about it. what i thought i would do is tell you a little bit about what drew me into the case to give you a sense of what my approach is. although it is a very familiar case to people, i'll give you a little background about the story so we're all kind of on the same page for the question and answer period. and you know, i look forward to knowing what it is that grabs you about the case. something y thinking like this, a great public trial would be a good way to get a window into the guilded age which was a time of great change and tension in american society, also one that seems uncannily like our own in

lindsay robertson is the author of "conquest by law," that explores the subject brings us here today.s we conceptualized this symposium, lindsay has been

the trial of lizzie borden is robertson's first book. in it she addresses one of the most infamous murders in history. the murders of andrew and abby board en, and the subsequent trial of their daughter lizzie why so sensationalized they remain a ubiquitous part of american law even now over 120 years later. in the trial of lizzie borden, she strips away the salacious and mythology details and uses court transcripts and lizzie's own letters and provides information on the case. she explains how socialized guilded age in the treatment and set the stage for the legend borden has become. and now here's carla robertson. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> i'm not expecting a call. this is just to make sure that i don't speak too long. thank you so much for coming, particularly on such a beautiful day. also i think that when you've been working on a subject as long as i have, there's always a fear that you know you're involved in some sort of intellectual stockholm syndrome. so it is nice to knee that once the book is actually out there are people

pope was as ike robertson said, not the finest of generals in the eastern theater, but he was a very perceptive observer. he recalled that pope, stanton told him, rather in pope's worlds, stanton regailed him at the first meeting that spared neither himself more president lincoln. stanton's remarks made it clear to pope that the shenandoah valley debacle was, quoting pope, really a campaign conducted from washington by the president and the secretary of war in which the generals played no part except to obey orders. the generals, pope concluded, were entirely innocent of any responsibility for those operations, unquote. stanton never publicly confessed his or president lincoln's role in the union defeat, and history really has chosen to blame rather than them, to blame the three generals who in a sense dangled from strings that were pulled in washington. major generals nathaniel p. banks, john c. free month, irwin mcdowell. but while all of these generals committed errors, and i could spend the next hour talking about errors they committed, the larger responsibility for the union def

robertson. [applause]

budd robertson. [applause] dr. robertson: thank you, keven. good morning, everyone. for the first time in my 60 year career, i must say, i take no pleasure in the talk i am about to give. it is time the other side be monument.his as the keynote speaker for your conference, plus the fact i am the eldest member of the cast by a number of years, i will drift far field to discuss the national issues of which civil war monuments are taught and to the factors that lay behind the insanity in which we live in many sections. respect,and, and i those whose friendship i may damage here. that being said, once we fought a civil war, that four-year bloodbath was the most vital moment in our evolution as a nation. slavery was the underlying issue behind the war. not the only issue. stay rights hovered over the land -- state rights hovered over the land. realize howd to conquermotions can reasonable thinking. the united states in which you in 1865.e was born civil war marked the conception of the country we know. it was the greatest sacrifice we nationhoodoward and unity. all over o

judge robertson, what do you think? mean as a judge having sort of seen these national security pendulum swings, right? i mean does the fact that we have this like long running thing, is that going to make a difference to how we think? >> yeah i think it's going to make a big difference. the suggestion is if the judges -- the judiciary doesn't swing as far as the pendulum swings, it's probably right. because we're all americans and we all swing with the pendulum a little bit whether we think we're doing it or not. justice brennan was absolutely right that judges tend to sort of think about fly the flag in their head and get all patriotic and there's danger out there and we have to be aware of danger and so forth, but the longer this war on terror goes on the more sort of immune we're all getting to these alarms that are being sent out all the time. and i really think that we're getting into kind of a steady state situation where everybody's worried about national security all the time. but it's not driving us nuts. and

robertson, 5'6", 5'7", weighed about 115. what is odd about sheridan's shape, he had a big torso, short legs. sort of like taking an oak stump, put it on a foot stool, you get an idea what sheridan sort of looked like, okay? and he liked to ride a big horse. very quickly in the army he will take command of, the joke was he had to shimmy up his sword to get to his horse. by the way, his head was oddly shaped. i know when he was writing about that, how do you describe it. it was somewhat like a flattened mini ball, but he had bumps on his head. and he said for lack of knowledge, it was the science of the day. those bumps indicated his aggressiveness. so he had an odd head. he was the man grant wanted there. sheridan will travel to washington, and then meet his army at harpers ferry. the army that he is going to meet is going to be an amalgam of commands. he sent the sixth corp. he rerouted two, did he say continued for petersburg, and they would be added to this army. hunters old command and he relinquished command, had no idea

we don't know a great deal about john robertson's early life, but this is a good example of what you meant to patient looks like in the weeks, months, and years that follow the surrender hereinafter maddox. -- here in appomattox. two of the most tangible examples of emancipation on the landscape would be the developing of a friedman school, the legalization of black education very much so tenable evidence. the second would be the ability of black citizens of appomattox county to be able to form their own churches. in many of these cases, these were people that were members of ironically integrated churches, at least physically integrated. the congregations were separated within, but it was the larger white churches where many of the black residents actually attended. as a result of the surrender, they got permission to leave those churches and create their own church. church to beh crated here in appomattox county was galilee baptist church. one of the founding members of that church was john robinson. he was the first treasurer and trustee of the church. initially our understanding

bud robertson. [applause] robinson -- dr. budd robertson. [applause] dr. robertson: thank you, keven. good morning, everyone. for the first time in my 60 year career, i must say, i take no pleasure in the talk i am about to give. it is time the other side be monument.his as the keynote speaker for your conference, plus the fact i am the eldest member of the cast by a number of years, i will drift far field to discuss the national issues of which civil war monuments are taught and to the factors that lay behind the insanity in which we live in many sections. respect,and, and i those whose friendship i may damage here. that being said, once we fought a civil war, that four-year bloodbath was the most vital moment in our evolution as a nation. slavery was the underlying issue behind the war. not the only issue. stay rights hovered over the land -- state rights hovered over the land. realize howd to conquermotions can reasonable thinking. the united states in which you in 1865.e was born civil war marked the conception of the country we know. it was the greate