Lecture: "Dear Lou: Civil War Letters from Capt Charles Corbit"- Members Free

When 25-year old Odessa Captain Charles Corbit rode into Westminster, Maryland, with his inexperienced 1st Delaware Cavalry just a few days before the Battle of Gettysburg, he had no idea that 24 hours away his little band would collide with famed Confederate cavalryman J. E. B. Stuart leading 6,000 Rebel horsemen... but then, Stuart had no idea that he was about to face 101 Delawareans... who apparently couldn't count and didn't know when they were beaten.
On June 1, 2013, at 2:00 PM, the Historic Odessa Foundation will feature military historian George Contant who will present a talk on the little-known fight at Westminster that caused Stuart's vaunted cavalry corps to nearly miss Gettysburg --and quite possibly saved the Union.
This lecture accompanies the exhibit  “Dear Lou – Civil War Letters Home from Captain Charles Corbit”  open from May 7 to August 2.  Letters written to his wife Louisa, sister of Daniel Corbit, record details of life in the army and portrays life at home from 1863 to 1865.  Many authentic Civil War objects that belonged to Captain Corbit will be on exhibit. 
George Contant has been studying military history—especially in Delaware and his home state of New York--for over 25 years.  He has authored two books about New York State Civil War history, and numerous Civil and Cold War-related magazine articles.  For over 11 years he has worked as a historian for Delaware State Parks, including 5 years as Fort Delaware State Park’s Historic Site Manager.  He is also the principal at Historic Resources, providing historical societies and other organizations from Delaware to Maryland with historical research, writing, and interpretation development.  He is currently in his third year of doing contract research and development for the Middletown Historical Society.