Civil War lecture Sunday!

The Battle of South Mountain (Sept. 14, 1862) was the precursor to Antietam. It also was the conflict in which Rutherford B. Hayes suffered the most serious of his five Civil War wounds. Yet, most histories of the war devote little time and attention to South Mountain ... until now.

Brian Matthew Jordan, a cultural historian of the American Civil War, has released Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory . The book relies on extensive research with primary sources to show that the Battle of South Mountain not only was a decisive Federal victory, but also a turning point in the campaign.

Jordan made use of the Manuscripts Collections at the Hayes Presidential Center in his research. He now returns to the Center to discuss his findings during a free lecture 3 p.m. Sunday, August 19 in the Hayes Museum. A book signing follows the talk. Copies of Unholy Sabbath can be purchased in the Museum Store.

In his third year of the history Ph.D. program at Yale University, Jordan is a native of Tallmadge, Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude, valedictorian) in history with a minor Civil War Era Studies from Gettysburg College in 2009. He is a frequent speaker at Civil War Round Tables nationwide, delivers tours for Gettysburg College’s Civil War Institute, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. He also conducts seminars for various Teaching American History programs. His published works have appeared in Civil War History and the Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography .