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| Special Speaker Mark Christ will talk about a Union soldier's account of the Civil War during our next Pen to Podium on Aug. 20. |
Mark the date! The next Pen to Podium lecture will cover the Civil War!
Arkansas author Mark Christ will speak about
his book, “This Day We Marched Again: A Union Soldier’s Account of the War in
Arkansas and the Trans-Mississippi,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the
Department of Arkansas Heritage at 1100 North St.
The free lecture is part of the
Arkansas State Archives’ “Pen to Podium: Arkansas Historical Writers’ Lecture
Series.” A reception sponsored by The Friends of the Arkansas State Archives
will start at 5:30 p.m.
Christ’s book focuses on Jacob Haas, a
22-year-old enlisted soldier in the Sheboygan Tigers, a company of German
immigrants that became Company A of the Ninth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. Christ’s
discussion will include Haas’s harrowing account of combat during the Camden
Expedition of 1864, which is considered a Union defeat that killed about 2,750
Union soldiers.
“The Jacob Haas diary is one of the most comprehensive
first-person accounts of a common soldier's experience in the
Trans-Mississippi, including military activities in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas
and the Indian Territory, which is now modern-day Oklahoma,” Christ said.
Haas and his regiment marched thousands of
miles through scorching summers and brutal winters to fight in some of the most
savage combats in the west. Yet, his diary doesn’t focus solely on military
matters. Haas makes observations on social and cultural activities and
describes natural wonders he finds, Christ said.
“Haas’s account of nature and culture as he
travels through four different states adds depth to the history of the Civil
War period and would be of interest to any Arkansan,” Christ said.
Christ studied journalism and liberal arts and graduated from the
University of Arkansas in Little Rock in 1982 and earned a master’s degree from
the University of Oklahoma in 2000. He worked as a journalist in Memphis and
Little Rock before going to work for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
for nearly 29 years. He is now the head of adult programming for the Central
Arkansas Library System and helps create programs for the 14 CALS branches.
Christ
has written and edited several historical works on the Civil War, including
“Civil War Arkansas, 1863: The Battle for a State,” “The Earth Reeled and the
Trees Trembled, Civil War Arkansas 1863-1864,” and “Rugged and Sublime: The
Civil War in Arkansas.” “This Day We Marched Again” will be available for sale
before and after the lecture. Let us know you're coming and register via Eventbrite! We look forward to seeing you here.
