The Battle of Williamsburg April 19, 2007

Historian and preservationist John V. Quarstein will discuss the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Williamsburg on April 19 at 7 p.m. in the Williamsburg Library Theatre. The program is free of charge and reservations are not needed.

At the time, the battle was one of the first major clashes in the Peninsula Campaign, and one of the largest fights in the war between North and South. Today, a series of earthen mounds stretching between Kingsmill and New Quarter Park are all that remain of Confederate works built to keep the Union Army from marching on Richmond. But on May 5, 1862, more than 70,000 troops fought around Williamsburg.

Local historian John Quarstein, director of the Virginia War Museum and creator of public televisions The Civil War in Hampton Roads, will talk about the places and personalities that governed the battle, as well as its role in the larger Peninsula Campaign.

Williamsburg Regional Library's Adult Services Department organizes the ongoing Third Thursdays @ Your Library series, featuring subjects of local interest, author talks, hobbies and pastimes, and other topics. The programs will take place on the third Thursday of every month at the Williamsburg Library on Scotland Street. Call the Reference Desk at 757-259-4050 for more information.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of programs.