LEWISTON — Historian Charles W. Plummer, garbed in the uniform of Civil War Union Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain, will be the speaker at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College “Food for Thought” noon luncheon on Friday, Nov. 18.

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, Plummer will deliver a historical overview of the war, portraying Maine Civil War Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain.

The war began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery fired on Union Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and the first battle of the war was fought at Manassas, Va., on July 21, 1861.

After four years of bloody warfare and the deaths of 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers, the war came to an end on April 12, 1865, in Appomattox, Va., with the formal surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant selected Chamberlain to be the presiding Union officer.

Plummer, a Civil War historian who is known for his living history presentations, will also talk about the role that the volunteers from Maine and Androscoggin County played in winning the war and preserving the Union and the support that the citizens at home gave in the Union’s war effort and the troops in the field.

Plummer is a long-time L.A. Senior College instructor who has taught several Civil War courses. He holds a BS degree in education, an MEd degree in administration and supervision and a PhD in religious studies and metaphysics.

Senior College, now in its 13th year, presents the monthly 11:30 luncheon program in the Function Room 170 at USM LAC. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon Thursday, Nov. 17, by calling 753-6510. Any late callers will be considered “at the door.”