MILITARY HISTORIANS
The 54th Annual Meeting
The 54th Annual Meeting of the Company of Military Historians was held April 24-27, 2003 in Leesburg, Virginia. There were 110 registrants for the meeting, with additional attendees at the banquet. The host hotel was the Holiday Inn at historic Carradoc Hall in Leesburg, Virginia. The hotel meeting facilities allowed for one of the largest flea market and exhibit area in recent years.
Chapter meetings and the Board of Governor’s meeting were held on Thursday evening. Friday morning seminars included:
· “Cavalry and Artillery Sabres Used by Federal Forces 1830s - 1865” by Richard Johnson & John Thillmann,
· “G.I. Joe’s New Home - The Furnishings of a WWII Barracks” by William L. Brown, III and Walter Bradford,
· "Unfitt for any Moderne Service?" Arms and Armor from Early Jamestown”.by Beverly “Bly” Straube, Curator, Jamestown Rediscovery (Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities)
· “Two WWII Memories: ‘2nd Wave At Utah Beach’, and ‘Guiding Big Bertha’” by John F. Swart, Jr. & Dewitt Hartwell
Dodona Manor
In the afternoon, attendees were privileged to visit “Dodona Manor”, the home of Gen. & Mrs. George C. Marshall and Oatlands Plantation. Dodona Manor is not yet open to the public. Members of the foundation restoring the site treated company members to a rare preview tour of the ongoing renovations. At Oatlands, members toured the home of Lt. Morton Eustis, 82nd Armored Reconnaisance Batallion, 2nd Armored Division who was killed in France in 1944. All enjoyed a beautiful afternoon to tour the gardens and nineteenth century greenhouse.
At the Friday evening Annual Membership meeting, outgoing President Joe Thatcher announced the officers for the coming year: President, Bill Emerson, Treasurer Drew Fonoroff, Secretary Michelle Figliomeni, Vice President for Administration, Alexander de Quesada, Vice President for Publications, Les Jensen, and the new Director of Development, Mark Kasal. All those attending the annual meeting were given cd’s with recordings of the “Company March”, which was composed by J. William Middendorf, II. The Company has rights to use the march for noncommercial purposes.
Saturday morning seminars included:
· “An Overview of Famous Cavalry Units of Loudoun County During the War Between the States, i.e. ‘Mosby’s Rangers’ (CSA); ‘The Loudoun Rangers’ (US) and ‘White’s Comanches’ (35th Bn. Va. Cav., CSA)” by Horace H. Mewborn, Jr.,
· American Military Photography - through the 1920” by Ross Kelbaugh,
· “The C. S. Armory at Richmond, VA” by Paul Davies
· “Bent on Having Their Own Way: Three Women Journalists of the Civil War” by Meredith Bean McMath, presented by Juanita Leisch Jensen
In the afternoon, attendees were treated to a talk on the Battle of Balls Bluff by Kim Holien, and to field trips to Balls Bluff, as well as Morven Park.
The Saturday evening banquet featured a playing of “The Company March”. Fellow and DSA holder Booke Nihart gave the invocation. Alexander de Quesada was made a Fellow of The Company and was given the Robert L. Miller Award for his exhibit of material on the Mexican Forces during the 1910 revolution. Runner up was Dave Cole with his exhibit of artifacts related to the Normandy invasion.
On Sunday morning, attendees were treated to a special feature, “The History, Analysis and Treatment of George Washington’s Campaign Headquarters Tent with References to Other Tents” By Loreen Finkelstein and Jane Sundberg. Ms. Sunberg and Ms. Finkelstein reported on a four-year effort to research and analyze various pieces of George Washington’s campaign tent. This was the first time Ms. Sundberg, who is a Cultural Resource Manager with Colonial National Historical Park and Ms. Finkelstein, who is a Textile Conservator for Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, have presented this information outside the environs of Colonial Williamsburg.
Members of the committee who put on the Annual meeting include Lewis Leigh, Co-chairman, Juanita Leisch Jensen, Co-chairman, Les Jensen, William Leigh, Jan Gordon, Steve Henry, and Joyce Henry, ably assisted by outgoing Vice President for Administration, Dale Biever.