HISTORYtalks: Col. George Rains, the Augusta Powder Works, and a Reassessment of Sherman's Generalship in Georgia by Theodore P. Savas

Description

Please join us for a Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours Lecture Series!
Our next lecture will be: "Col. George Rains, the Augusta Powder Works, and a Reassessment of Sherman's Generalship in Georgia" given by Theodore P. Savas

Cost is $5 per person. Vimeo link details will be sent with your email registration confirmation.

 

Talk Synopsis:
Few people know that the Confederacy had almost no gunpowder and no way of producing it in quantity when Fort Sumter fell. Bull RUn was fought July 20, 1861. If just two more battles the same size had been fought at any time that summer or fall -- regardless of the outcome -- the South could not have continued fighting. This presentation introduces you to the man and his mission, the incredible odds he faced building and operating the 2-mile long Augusta mill, and how the speaker's discovery of its internal records demonstrates that the loss of Augusta would have ended the war within four to six weeks--and the Union high command knew it. Augusta was the most important city in the entire Confederacy, it was essentially defenseless throughout the war, and it was ignored by Union planners and bypassed by Sherman twice. It was never captured. This is the story you have never heard that made the entire war possible.  

Theodore P. Savas Biography:
Theodore P. Savas graduated from The University of Iowa College of Law in 1986 (With Distinction), practiced law in Silicon Valley for many years, and taught business and history classes at the college level for about 20 years. He has also been working in the publishing industry since 1990, and together with the late Russel H. Beatie founded Savas Beatie in January 2004. 
Savas is the author or editor of fourteen books published in seven languages), including A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution , Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-Boat War in the Atlantic, and Never for Want of Powder: The Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia.
His hobbies include scuba diving, smoking good cigars, drinking quality gin, and playing bass and keyboards in the hard rock band Arminius. [AR - MIN -  EE - US]