| Author and Historian Dr. Gene Schmiel Franklin Civil War Round Table’s February 2020 Event – After the November 1864 Battle of Franklin, several federal commanders including Generals John Schofield, David Stanley, Jacob Cox and Emerson Opdycke all claimed credit for their “victory.” Opdycke and Cox, especially, conducted a post war debate which ultimately ended their friendship. At the February 2020 Franklin Civil War Round Table, Dr. Gene Schmiel is presenting, “Jacob Cox, Emerson Opdycke, and Competing Memories of the Battle of Franklin.”
Gene Schmiel is a student of the Civil War whose book, Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era, was published in 2014 by Ohio University Press and presented in Franklin in 2014.This work, a History Book Club selection, was deemed “best biography of the year” by Civil War Books and Authors.
Schmiel’s second book, Lincoln, Antietam, and a Northern Lost Cause, was published in April, 2019. It is a speculative history about the Battle of Antietam and how an overwhelming Union victory there ironically could have resulted in the preservation of slavery. Also in 2019 he released, Ohio Heroes of the Battle of Franklin.
Schmiel holds a Ph. D. degree from The Ohio State University and was an Assistant Professor of History at St. Francis University (PA) before becoming a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State which included service as a US Ambassador. He resides in Gainesville, Virginia with his wife, Bonnie Kathryn.
This Franklin Civil War Round Table presentation will be Sunday, February 9th at Carnton’s Fleming Center in Franklin. We start at 3:00. The public is invited. For additional information, please contact gregwade55@yahoo.com.
Below is a picture of me speaking to the Franklin group in 2014 and also of my book about the Battle of Franklin.  |
GENE SCHMIEL, CIVIL WAR HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, AND LECTURER 