April 23, 2010

 

This is your invitation to attend the Keokuk Civil War Symposium, "The Fight For The Mississippi" to be held in Keokuk, Iowa on Friday April 23, 2010.   A panel of noted historians will speak on various aspects of the struggle for control of the Mississippi River during the Civil War

The venue for the Symposium will be at Meyers Courtyard (629 Blondeau Street) in Keokuk.  The program will feature oral presentations during the day from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon and from 1:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.  Lunch will be provided and is included in the registration fee. 

BACKGROUND: 

The Mississippi River was essential to the development of the United States as a nation and a world power. The great river system was the most dominant geographical feature in North America. Whoever controlled the Mississippi controlled the continent.  Both the Union and Confederate governments made extensive military dispositions on the Mississippi and its tributaries.. Though overshadowed by the war in the Virginia theater, the war in the west, and in particular along the Mississippi River, became strategically decisive.

The states of the upper Midwest depended upon the Mississippi river for trade, transportation, and commerce.  Though the railroads were rapidly expanding into the interior of the nation, river transport was still the most efficient way to get agricultural products to world markets. River cities, such as Keokuk, could not thrive and prosper without free access to the river. When war broke out, tens of thousands of Iowans, many from Keokuk, volunteered and joined the union army.  Their primary focus was to preserve the union, and gain open navigation of the Mississippi.

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Eugene Watkins, Curator and Chief Historian, Old Fort Museum, Fort Madison Iowa

"Keokuk, Iowa and the Mississippi River on the eve of the Civil War"

Loren Horton, Senior Historian at the State Historical Society of Iowa

"Training the troops, Iowa mobilizes for war on the Mississippi"

David Hinze, Historian and Author of Border War in Southwest Missouri, The Battle of Carthage, July 5, 1861    "James Buchanan Eads and the City Class Ironclads"

Brigadier General Parker Hills, U.S. Army (retired)

"Guns on the Mississippi, Formation of the Western Navy to the Battle of Fort Donelson"

Richard L. Kiper, United States Army (retired)
Historian and Author of John Alexander McClernand - Politician in Uniform

"John Alexander McClernand"

To register for the symposium, please fill out the printable Registration Form and send with the registration fee of $30.00 per person by March 31, 2010 to the Keokuk Area Convention & Tourism Bureau.  We hope you will attend this educational and enjoyable symposium!