Robert Register is an author and historian with a keen interest in Gulf Coast history. Robert will give an overview of the hardships produced by the Confederacy's lack of salt and tell the story of the U.S. Navy's destruction of salt works and the town of St. Andrews in December of 1863. ​Robert is a native of Dothan, Alabama and has a personal interest in the story of the salt works on St. Andrews Bay. The USS Bloomer which was the command ship during the U.S. Navy's 1863 raid was captured in December, 1862 by Union soldiers in Geneva, Alabama. Many generations of Robert's family have lived in Geneva and at the time of this first Yankee invasion of Alabama, his great-great grandfather, John Young Register, was a justice of the peace in Geneva and delivered mail in both Alabama and Florida.  Robert is by no means a Civil War scholar, however, before publishing his article on the salt works in PANAMA CITY LIVING  http://panamacityliving.com/civil-war-salt-makers-st-andrews-bay-salt-earth/ , he was able to visit in Goucher College library in Baltimore and examine the papers of Ella Lonn whose outstanding book, SALT AS A FACTOR IN THE CONFEDERACY examined the miraculous achievements of the Southern people despite their lack of industrial capability. Since publishing his article five years ago, Robert has been able to visit Saltville, Virginia on three occasions and to examine the recreated salt works there which show how salt was extracted from water during the time of the Civil War. Robert will include a slide show of his observations to illustrate his talk.