Bert Dunkerly discusses how Railroads affected military strategy and operations during the Civil War

Historian and award-winning author Robert M. “Bert” Dunkerly of Richmond, Virginia will present a free, virtual program on "Civil War Railroads" to the Inland Empire Civil War Round Table at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) Monday, Aug. 19.

The link, which opens at 6:15 (PDT) that night, is at: inlandempirecwrt.org. The recording will be posted on the website shortly thereafter.

“I will analyze how both sides made use of their resources,” says Bert of the Union and the Confederacy, “how railroads affected military strategy and operations, and summarize the impact of railroads on the war.”

Bert will address the Round Table as part of the Emerging Civil War (ECW) Speakers Bureau. The ECW is “a public history-oriented platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War.”

Bert is a park ranger at Richmond National Battlefield Park, and a past president of the Richmond Civil War Round Table. He serves on the Preservation Commission for the American Revolution Round Table in Richmond.

Bert is actively involved in historic preservation and research. He has worked at 14 historic sites, and has written more than one dozen books and numerous scholarly articles, including those for the nonprofit Emerging Civil War.

His research includes archaeology, colonial life, military history and historic commemoration. Bert has visited more than 500 battlefields and more than 1,000 historic sites worldwide.

Bert has taught courses at Central Virginia Community College, the University of Richmond and the Virginia Historical Society.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Saint Vincent College, a private Benedictine college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania; and a master’s degree in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

According to the U.S. Army Transportation Corps, "Railroads could transport larger number of troops and supplies faster (than animal-drawn wagons or the speed of a walking man); so Congress authorized President Abraham Lincoln to take over the operations of all railroads on 31 January 1862. This resulted in the organization of the United States Military Railroad (USMRR). The railroad came into prominence as a means of military transportation so much so that the vast majority of battles and campaigns were fought along or for control of railroad lines." 

For more information, go to: inlandempirecwrt.org; or email: [email protected].

Photo: A U.S. Military Railroad train travels on a newly repaired, temporary bridge on the crucial Orange & Alexandria Railroad at Union Mills, Virginia, circa 1863. Photo: Library of Congress.