Winter Lecture Series 2025 – Walter E. Wilson: Civil War Blockade Running in the Western Gulf

Join us at the Texas Maritime Museum for our annual Winter Lecture Series every Monday from 12:00-1:00 p.m. This free program is one of our most popular adult programs and offers twelve weeks of engaging and informative presentations by distinguished professionals in their respective fields. Complimentary light refreshments will be available.

This week, Walter E. Wilson will speak on the topic of Civil War Blockade Running in the Western Gulf. He will cover material in current and future books and articles and autographed copies of his books will be available at discounted prices.

Walt Wilson is a retired U.S. Navy Captain and intelligence officer. He served the nation for 31 years, including 10 years on aircraft carriers, at the Pentagon, and overseas in Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In his civilian career, he was Vice President of a Defense consulting firm and Assistant Director for the Texas Department of Information Resources in Austin. He now resides in San Antonio and is a former board member of the Texas Map Society, President of the San Antonio Navy League, and is an Admiral in the Texas Navy.

Walt is the author of the books Civil War Scoundrels and the Texas Cotton Trade, The Bulloch Belles, and James D. Bulloch, Secret Agent and Mastermind of the Confederate Navy. He has also published several articles about the Civil War blockade running in Texas that have appeared in recent editions of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Civil War Navy Magazine, Louisiana History Journal, and the UT Rio Grande Valley history series.

Walt holds master’s degrees from Marymount University and Pepperdine University and is a graduate of the Air War College and the University of Texas at Austin. He grew up as the son of a US Coast Guardsman stationed at South Padre Island, Port of Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Port O’Connor, Galveston, and Sabine Pass. He is married to his high school sweetheart, the former Sharon McKusker of Bridge City, TX. Their daughter, Dr. Brittany Wilson, is an associate professor at Duke University.