Rick Britton
Regular listeners of our podcast or our live streaming feed might know Rick Britton. He’s a historian and cartographer and a frequent guest on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot. Rick also organizes a Civil War lecture and day-trip series in conjunction with the Charlottesville Senior Center.
On August 19, 2009, Rick Britton himself delivered a presentation entitled "The 19th Virginia Infantry at Turner’s Gap." Most of the rank and file of the 19th Virginia hailed from Charlottesville and Albemarle County. At the Battle of Turner’s Gap — fought on September 14th, 1862, three days prior to Sharpsburg (or Antietam) — the 150 boys from Albemarle were thrown into the fight pell-mell, suffering 42% casualties. A Federal tactical victory, the fight stopped Union Gen. George McClellan from rescuing the 13,000 Union soldiers surrounded at Harpers Ferry. They surrendered the next morning.
On Wednesday, August 26th, Rick Britton will conduct a tour of the Sharpsburg/Antietam Battlefield. Bus tour departs from the Charlottesville Senior Center at 8:00 AM. There is a fee for the tour. Call 974-6538 for more information.
This is part five of a seven part series. The event is held every third Wednesday at the Charlottesville Senior Center.
That was just wonderful … as a re enactor for Company K 19th Virginia I found this talk just amazing and my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Britton for the passion and the research.