UPPER LAKE, Calif. – One hundred 50 years ago this month was one of the most momentous months in American history.

Robert E. Lee surrendered his army of Northern Virginia on April 9, which triggered the rapid collapse of the Confederate States of America. Five days later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

For most slaves, Confederate defeat in April 1865 finally meant freedom as the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation could finally be applied to designated areas where most slaves resided.

Hundreds of thousands of slaves in the United States remained in bondage and had to await the passing of the 13th Amendment before they would become free, eight months later.

These are the topics that will be discussed at this month's Redwood Empire Civil War Roundtable.

The meeting will be held at the Tallman Hotel in historic Upper Lake on Monday, April 6, at 6:15 p.m.

Zane Jensen and Phil Smoley, co-founders of the group, will lead the discussion through a multimedia presentation.

The roundtable began in January 2011 to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

The group has attempted to follow events of the war month by month, each month being the 150th anniversary of events during the war.

The roundtable has covered most every aspect of that tumultuous time period of our country's history. 

Sixteen different speakers have covered more than 100 topics ranging from secession and the start of the war, to the battles and locations, to technologies and advances in medicine, to people and leaders.  In the coming months, the discussion will focus on the Reconstruction period.

Attendance is free and open to everyone, from the novice to expert. Reservations are not necessary.