The Civil War Along Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau | Brown Bag Lecture by Dr. Aaron Astor

In a Brown Bag Lecture on August 20, Dr. Aaron Astor will discuss his new book, The Civil War Along Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau.  The Cumberland Plateau played host to some of the most dramatic military maneuvering of the Civil War. Straddling the entire state of Tennessee, the formidable tableland proved to be a maze of topographical pitfalls and a morass of divided loyalties. As Federal forces sought to capitalize on the early capture of Nashville, they moved into a region split by the most vicious guerrilla warfare outside Missouri, including the colorful and intensely violent rivalry between Confederate Champ Ferguson and Unionist Tinker Dave Beaty. The bitter conflict affected thousands of ordinary men and women struggling to survive in the face of a remorseless war of attrition, and its legacy continues to be felt today.  Aaron Astor is an associate professor of history at Maryville College and has written numerous articles, conference papers, and books on the Civil War era, focusing especially on the Upper and Border South.  Books will be available for Dr. Astor to sign following the lecture.

The program is sponsored by 21^st Mortgage and is free and open to the public.  The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville.  Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture.  Soft drinks will be available.  For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824.