Public Programs

The Second Friday Lecture Series is a monthly Civil War lecture program organized by the Civil War Museum of Kenosha, Wisconsin. All programs are held for an in-person audience at the museum. The lectures are recorded and posted to the museum’s YouTube channel.

The Second Friday Lectures begin at 12:00pm and there is no cost to attend. The Civil War Museum graciously thanks the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table and Iron Brigade Association for sponsoring this series of lectures.

Letterman

The Letterman Medical Evacuation Plan at Antietam

Friday, September 13  |  12:00pm – 1:00pm  |  Speaker: Dr. Gordon Dammann

Dr. Jonathan Letterman forever changed the course of both the Civil War and modern medicine with the innovations he installed within the Medical Department of the Union Army between 1862 and 1864.  The crowning medical achievement of what became known as “The Letterman Plan” occurred during and after the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam.  Letterman’s system brought order out of the chaos and carnage of battle, and thousands of soldiers benefited from the improvements he created. 

John Brown

John Brown: Hero or Terrorist?  Martyr or Madman?

Friday, October 11  |  12:00pm – 1:00pm  |  Speaker: Bob Presman

This presentation will examine John Brown’s life and how he came from obscurity to become one of the most significant figures in the runup to the Civil War.  It will include the views of modern historians on John Brown and how his attack on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry triggered the Civil War.

From Prison Guards to Prisoners

From Prison Guards to Prisoners: The Story of the Nineteenth Wisconsin

Friday, November 8  |  12:00pm – 1:00pm  |  Speaker: Larry Desotell

The presentation will track the history of this little known regiment from Wisconsin. After forming and training at Camp Utley in Racine, the regiment was stationed at Camp Randall to guard Confederate prisoners sent there after the Battle of Island No. 10 in April 1862. The talk will then concentrate on the regiment’s battle history, as members of the VII Corps and later the Army of the James, and how almost the entire regiment was killed, wounded, or taken prisoner at the Second Battle of Fair Oaks. These prisoners, who once served as guards, now tasted prison life from a different angle.

Larry Desotell was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin and graduated from St. Catherine’s High School. He received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a M.A. in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. He taught United States History and Political Science at Arrowhead High School for 32 years. He is the author of “The Captured, the Sick, and the Dead: Confederate Soldiers At Camp Randall,” (2020) and “The Confederate Rest of the Story,” published in the Wisconsin Magazine of History (Spring 2021).

Union General Daniel Butterfield

Union General Daniel Butterfield: A Civil War Biography

Friday, December 13  |  12:00pm – 1:00pm  |  Speaker: Dr. James Pula

Dan Butterfield played a pivotal role during the Civil War – led troops in the field at the brigade, division, and corps level, wrote the 1862 Army field manual, composed “Taps,” and served as the chief of staff for Joe Hooker in the Army of the Potomac.  Butterfield was also controversial, not well-liked, and tainted by politics. Award-winning author James S. Pula unspools fact from fiction to offer the first detailed and long-overdue treatment of the man and the officer.