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February 21, 2019
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Location: Pebble Hill

The public is invited to “When Cowards Shrink and Brave Men Die: Cowardice and Combat in the Confederate Army,” a talk by Dr. Lesley Gordon, the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at the University of Alabama, on Thursday, February 21 at 4:00 p.m. at the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities at Pebble Hill.

While recent scholarship in the field of the American Civil War Era has increasingly explored significant social and cultural dimensions of the conflict, surprisingly little has been done in terms of illuminating one of the key moral concepts used to evaluate battlefield action and character: cowardice. For those charged with faltering on the battlefield, be it an individual soldier or an entire regiment, the impact could be devastating, extending well past the end of the war. Even blood sacrifice, usually the ultimate test of courage, was not always effective in silencing such a charge. Dr. Gordon’s talk focuses on a single Confederate unit, the 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment, charged with cowardice at Shiloh, and the ways in which this label affected their subsequent service.

Dr. Lesley Gordon has taught at the University of Akron in Ohio, Murray State University in Kentucky, and is currently the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at the University of Alabama, where she has served as a professor for the past two years. Over the last three decades Dr. Gordon has published numerous works about the Civil War, covering topics that range from the narratives of individual soldiers to broader themes, such as cowardice.

The event is free, open to the public, and will be followed by refreshments. Books will be available for purchase and signing. The Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities at Pebble Hill is located at 101 S. Debardeleben Street, Auburn.

For more information on the program, call 334-844-4903 or visit www.auburn.edu/cah.