The speaker for the Nov. 8 meeting of the West Tennessee Historical Society is Dr. David Coffey, interim chair of the Department of History and Philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Martin. The meeting will be held in the Seminar Room of the Paul Meek Library at UT Martin from 1-2:15 p.m.

Those society members and others who attend may have lunch at the cafeteria which is located in the university center just across from the library or wherever else they may choose and then go to the Seminar Room for the meeting.

Dr. David Coffey will deliver a paper entitled "I Can't Spare This Man: He Fights: U. S. Grant and the Civil War in West Tennessee."

Ever since the Civil War ended historians and other interested observers have argued the finer points of victory and defeat, usually focusing on battles won and lost. Yet never has there been a true consensus when it comes to selecting the decisive event. Certainly Gettysburg receives much attention in this regard, but what about Vicksburg and Chattanooga? A compelling case can also be made for two of the earliest battles of the Civil War - Fort Donelson and Shiloh. On the other hand, one might argue that the Civil War produced no single decisive battle. While Fort Donelson and Shiloh, individually or together, may not have determined the outcome of the war, the fighting in West Tennessee provided perhaps the war's decisive element, when it catapulted relatively unknown Ulysses S. Grant to prominence. His bold demand for the unconditional surrender of Fort Donelson in February 1862 gave the Union its first important victory of the war and made "Unconditional Surrender" Grant a national hero - a status he almost yielded with the defeat-turned-victory in the Battle of Shiloh. When President Lincoln responded to calls for Grant's ouster with "I can't spare this man, he fights," he set in motion Grant's rise through the ranks to commanding general of the armies of the United States, which indeed assured Grant's decisive role in the war. And it all started in West Tennessee.

The speaker has published a book titled "John Bell Hood and the Struggle for Atlanta," and is the associate editor of two other publications. Society members and all who are interested in the Civil War are urged to attend. The meeting is free and open to the public.