SIDNEY — Sidney, Ohio’s Civil War Living History Weekend chair Mike Barhorst has announced that award-winning author Scott Mingus will be speaking at this year’s event, scheduled for Sept. 21-22 at Sidney’s 226-acre Tawawa Park.

Mingus, a retired scientist and executive in the global specialty paper industry, has written more than 30 books and numerous articles on the Civil War. The Ohio native graduated from Miami University, and was part of the research team that developed the first commercially successful self-adhesive U.S. postage stamps. He was also a pioneer in the early development of bar code labels.

Mingus has appeared on C-SPAN, C-SPAN3, PBS, PCN, and several commercial television networks. Mingus writes a blog on the Civil War history of York County, PA, where he and his wife Debi live. He also has written six scenario books for miniature wargaming.

Mingus received lifetime achievement awards from the York County History Center and the Camp Curtin Historical Society for his many contributions to local Civil War history. The Gettysburg Civil War Round Table recently presented Mingus and co-author Eric Wittenberg with the 2023 Bachelder-Coddington Award for the best new book on the Gettysburg Campaign, If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania.

His 4th-great-grandfather served in the 1st New York in the American Revolution, and 3rd-great-grandfather was in the 2nd Ohio Militia in the War of 1812. Several direct ancestors served in the Union army in the Civil War.

The topic of Mingus’s talk will be the ‘Confederate Calamity: JEB Stuart’s Cavalry Ride Through York County, Pennsylvania.’ He has written a book with the same title.

During his presentation, Mingus will talk about the June 30, 1863, cavalry action at Hanover, Pennsylvania and how for the next two days, his cavalry rode through York County in an attempt to locate the Army of Northern Virginia. As a result, his cavalry missed the first two days of the Battle of Gettysburg, depriving Confederate General Robert E. Lee of the “eyes and ears of the army.”

On Sunday, Sept, 22, Mingus will talk about Ohio’s role at the Second Battle of Winchester. The Confederate victory at Second Winchester was one of the Union Army’s most lopsided defeats in the Civil War, and the Confederate victory set the stage for the Battle of Gettysburg.

Mingus co-authored “The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory That Opened the Door to Gettysburg” with Eric Wittenburg. Among other titles, Mingus has written “Gettysburg Glimpses: True Stories from the Battlefield,” “Confederate General William ‘Extra Billy’ Smith: From Virginia’s Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat,” “Human Interest Stories from Antietam,” and “A Carnival of Grief: The Lincoln Funeral Train in Pennsylvania.” Mingus, along with the other authors attending the event, will have books available to sign and sell.

“We are pleased that Scott will be attending our event,” Barhorst said in making the announcement. “I actually communicated with him two years ago about participating in 2022, but he was already booked. Knowing the dates for 2024 well in advance made it possible for Scott to arrange his schedule to be here this year.”