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Remember Fort Gregg

Visitors to the West Virginia Book Festival in Charleston this coming weekend will have the opportunity to hear Washington and Lee alumnus John J. Fox III, a 1981 graduate, discuss his latest book on the Civil War, “The Confederate Alamo: Bloodbath at Petersburg’s Fort Gregg.” John’s presentation is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 15, at 11:30 a.m. at the Charleston Civic Center.

A history major at W&L, John has written several books and articles on the Civil War. His latest chronicles events at Fort Gregg on April 2, 1865, and was released to commemorate the 145th anniversary of the battle at which a handful of Confederate soldiers made a desperate last stand at the fort.

Saturday’s Charleston Gazette featured a condensed excerpt from the book, in which John described how the 12th West Virginia Infantry helped to take Fort Gregg and Petersburg, Va., which led to the fall of Richmond and the end of the war.

John’s first book, “Red Clay to Richmond: Trail of the 35th Georgia Infantry Regiment,” won two awards — the 2005 James I. Robertson Jr. Literary Prize for Confederate History and the 2006 Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board Award, given by the Georgia Secretary of State.

When he’s not conducting research or writing, John is a pilot for American Airlines. He and his family live in Winchester, Va.