james i. robertson.st 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 history

james i. robertson, paul levengood, david adams, a close personal friend and steward of a large portion of the cold harbor battlefield. our readers, ashley and michael, and i want to send 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 foot steps of union and confederate armies across the north anna and the pom onky rivers, to potmy creek, bethesda church and near here at the cold harbor across roads. 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, hanover county has been a real strong partner wi

james i. robertson, paul levengood, david adams, a close personal friend and steward of a large portion of the cold harbor battlefield. our readers, ashley and michael, and i want to send 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 foot steps of union and confederate armies across the north anna and the pomonkey rivers, to pottawatomie creek, bethesda 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, hanover county has been a real strong partn

james 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

james i. robertson, paul levengood, david adams, a close personal friend and steward of a large portion of the cold harbor battlefield. our readers, ashley and michael, and i want to send 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 foot steps of union and confederate armies across the north anna and the pom onky rivers, to potmy creek, bethesda church and near here at the cold harbor across roads. 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, hanover county has been a real strong partner wi

we'll begin with an overview of the campaign, including comments by scholar james robertson.in an 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.

james i. 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

james i. robertson.st 31 years old, president kennedy appointed him as executive director of the nation's beleagured commission of the centennial for 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 guideness to the nation so far. he strode proudly through one of the greatest careers of teaching and writing that any of us will ever see. he was an alumni of history in virginia tech for 18 years. he has written numerous books, including one of the greatest biographies of stonewall jackson. today as our keynote speaker, he will speak to us about the 1864 overland campaign. we are very honored to have with us today dr. james i. robertson. [applause] >> thank you, john, very much, and please know that i'm deeply humbled by the invitation to be the keynote speaker on this awesome occasion in history and in commemoration. i also would like to extend greetings from the virginia's civil war ses kwu

in keynote remarks, james robertson describes ulysses desire to detroit the confederacy which culminatedat cold harbor. he said robert e. lee earned his greatest and final victory of the war, but it wasn't enough to stop grant from besieging lee and his men at petersburg. the richmond battle park organized this hour-long event. >> well, good evening. my name is rick raines and i'm the pastor here at the fair mount christian church, and we are really sad that you're here tonight. [ laughter ] we know you are much anticipating being over at the battlefield, but we're glad you're with us tonight. i've been asked to begin the evening with a word of invocation. please bow with me. father in heaven, we come to this place tonight, not to celebrate war, but to celebrate sacrifice, loyalty, bravery, and the things that have happened in our history to make us the great nation we are today. may we learn from the lessons of history. may we not repeat the lessons that divide us, but may we repeat those lessons that make us, indeed, strong. tonight, dear lord, i thank you for the national park service

in keynote remarks, james robertson describes ulysses desire to detroit the confederacy which culminatedat cold harbor. he said robert e. lee earned his greatest and final victory of the war, but it

. >> you can draw an arc from oscar robertson to lebron james.his kevin to rent there or does he have to win a championship? >> always like to get a ring. there orin durrant does he have to win a championship? >> always like to get a ring. he was born in d.c. might he go back to the wizards? these athletes really control their destiny to a level we have never seen before. >> the price tag being talked about, the $280 million range, does that surprise you? >> of course it surprises you when you think of $280 million to go to a shoe company based on what he's being paid a year, it is significant. when you look at the up side of the market, lifestyle, economic growth in asia, and south america, and europe. basketball clearly is a global game. it has made great inroads and those dollars are really insignificant as insane as it sounds, when you are locking up somebody who was such a high-quality individual like kevin durrant. >> you believe that the upside is not for the faint of heart, why not? >> you have to have a big checkbook. this is a tug-of-wa

nic robertson discussed the militant groups' motives earlier in our situation room. >> they've held these journalists, james't the only one, there are two other americans, one british, one from new zealand. they are holding them as bargaining trips. we do know the american government, british government, don't negotiate with terrorists. and certainly don't ever pay ransoms to terrorists. again, we dent know why some of these other journalist have been released an what gez on behind the scenes there. but this speaks to isis using these people as bargaining chips to try to get what it wants. and right now it wants the united states off its back. the united states is showing itself in iraq around mosul, heading isis targets there, to free up that key strategic dam, and isis -- >> yes. >> with airstrikes and isis is feeling the heat. this is the way they will fire back. and if we continue in this vein, which we will, we expect isis to continue to parade before us this brazen want and horrific -- there's no word to describe it, brutal -- pick your word, it's horrible. this is unrelenting so far. >> nic robertson

nic robertson discussed the militant's groups motives earlier in our situation room. >> they've held these journalists, james season the the only one. they've held a european journalist as well, as bargaining chips. we don't know why the french journalist was released, we know the british government and american government don't negotiate with terrorists and don't pay ransoms to terrorists. again, we don't know why some of these other journalists have been released and what's going on behind the scenes there. this speaks to isis using these people as bargaining chips to try to get what it wants. right now it wants the united states off its back, the united states is showing itself in iraq around mosul, to free up the key strategic dam. and isis is feeling the heat. this is the way they're going to fire back. we can expect isis to continue to parade before us, this brazen wanton horrific -- there's no word to describe it, brutal -- pick your word, it's horrible. they am do this, this is an unrelenting group. >> nic's absolutely right there, it's horrific. president obama has been briefed on this video, and u.

we'll begin with an overview of the campaign, including comments by scholar james robertson. in an 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