Retired Sonoma State professor Travis Wagner will talk about the history of the army in Sonoma on Thursday, October 24 at the Sonoma Community Center. The U.S. historian will present “A Historical Perspective,” beginning with the arrival in Sonoma of the 1st US Dragoons in 1849.
Wagner observes, “They were a stark contrast to the pioneering New York Volunteers who had departed Sonoma in August 1848. The dragoons were a hardened unit of professional soldiers who had endured the famous 2,000-mile march from Missouri to San Diego culminating in the Battle of San Pasqual.”
Wagner will also talk about the US Army’s Pacific Division which also arrived in Sonoma in 1849, and the 13 officers who would later serve as generals in the Civil War. He will feature a soldier who was America’s most famous humorist in the 1850s. This presentation includes descriptions of soldier’s life in early Sonoma, the various army units and key individual soldiers, and Sonoma-based military missions including the infamous Clear Lake Massacre.
Room110, Sonoma Community Center, 7 PM Oct 24.
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