The Hershey Civil War Roundtable will meet on Thursday, Aug. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 542, 8000 Derry St., Harrisburg. Guest speaker Scott Mingus will present "Flames Beyond Gettysburg," The program will also be livestreamed via Zoom and Facebook, and the recording will be posted at http://www.hersheycwrt.org after the meeting.

In late June 1863, two powerful columns of Confederate troops approached the Susquehanna River in southcentral Pennsylvania. One, under Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell, marched northeast from Franklin County through Carlisle toward Harrisburg, and the other, under Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, headed eastward through Gettysburg and York toward Wrightsville and Columbia.

The upcoming slideshow talk will cover Early's expedition as his division seized control of Gettysburg after a series of skirmishes on June 26, 1863, and then two days later occupied York, the largest Northern town to fall to the Confederates during the war.

Early ransomed York for $100,000 and supplies and surrounded the town with artillery and troops. Hastily organized state militia defended the river crossing at Wrightsville against John Gordon's Georgia brigade and then burned the world's longest covered bridge to prevent the Confederates from passing into Lancaster County, from which Jubal Early had hoped to threaten Harrisburg.

The meeting is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Ricky Hollis at rickyhollissr@gmail.com or visit the aforementioned website.