The 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia was fought from December 11 to 13 inside and near the small transportation hub along the Rappahannock River, an hour’s drive south of Washington, D.C.  During events marking the 150th anniversary of a battle that resulted in almost 2,000 deaths and 16,000 casualties, American History TV captured video of re-enactments, including a river crossing and landing under fire and street-to-street urban combat.  We spoke with National Park Service historian Frank O'Reilly, homeowner Charles McDaniel, and several participating re-enactors.

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The Civil War Battle of Shiloh took place April 6th and 7th, 1862 in Hardin County, Tennessee, and resulted in a Union victory over Confederate forces attempting to defend two major western railroads servicing the strategically important Mississippi Valley region. Nearly 110,000 troops took part in the fighting, which produced almost 24,000 casualties, making it the bloodiest battle to that point in U.S. history. American History TV visited Shiloh National Military Park, where Stacy Allen, the Park's Chief Ranger, gave us a tour of the battlefield.

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Historians Brooks Simpson and Mark Grimsley lead a group on a day-long tour of Antietam National Battlefield, the 1862 engagement that is considered the bloodiest single day in American history. Visiting key locations at the National Park, including the Cornfield, Sunken Lane and Burnside Bridge, the historians use the landscape and demonstrations to show what the battle was like for the armies on the ground.

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National Park Service historian Ray Brown took a group from the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute conference on a day-long tour of Manassas National Battlefield Park. In this program viewers will get a general overview of the battle from the locations where the events transpired.

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To mark the 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter, Union Civil War re-enactors commemorate the events that took place on April 12, 1861. Park historian Richard Hatcher discusses the history of Fort Sumter and how the attack on the fort ignited the Civil War.

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This June marks the 50th Anniversary of two of President John F. Kennedy’s most memorable speeches. On June 10th 1963, JFK delivered the commencement address at American University known as his “Peace Speech.” He called for high-level negotiations with the Soviet Union, a nuclear test ban treaty and an end to the Cold War.  On June 26th 1963, President Kennedy took a harder line in West Berlin, famously stating that as a free man he took pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner.” This is a discussion from the Kennedy Presidential Library about the significance and lasting influence of these two addresses.

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The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863, in Pennsylvania, as Union forces turned back an invasion of the North by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Union victory inspired President Abraham Lincoln to call for “a new birth of freedom” in his address a few months later dedicating the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg. C-SPAN's American History TV was LIVE on June 30 from Gettysburg National Military Park covering events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle, including remarks by scholars such as Harold Holzer, Allen Guelzo, and Doris Kearns Goodwin, as well as your calls and tweets for Civil War Institute Director Peter Carmichael and novelist Jeff Shaara.

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Virginia Commonwealth University professor Deirdre Condit teaches a class on the history of reproductive law in the U.S. Professor Condit touches on the 1965 U.S. Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, about the prohibited use of contraceptives and the right to marital privacy. The class also examines rights and access to abortion, looking at the 1962 story of actress Sherri Finkbine, who had taken medication she later discovered causes birth defects, prompting her to fly to Sweden for an abortion. Also discussed is the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion case.

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The Siege of Vicksburg took place from May 18th to July 4th, 1863. After failing to take the city by force, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee laid siege to the city, held by Confederate General John C. Pemberton and his forces. On July 4th, after 47 days, General Pemberton surrendered; and Vicksburg—the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River—was turned over to General Grant and the Union. In this program, we tour Vicksburg National Military Park with Tim Kavanaugh, the park's supervisory ranger for interpretation.

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Vicksburg National Military Park marks the 150th anniversary of the siege of Vicksburg with a ceremony to rededicate the Iowa State Monument, which honors the contributions of Iowa troops to the Union victory. The fall of Vicksburg - the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River – came on July 4, 1863, a day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. In this program, Iowa governor Terry Branstad joins former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour to commemorate the Iowa soldiers who fought and died on the Mississippi battlefield. 
 

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