Author and University of Alabama history professor George Rable talks about the December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. He places the battle in the context of the war, and talks about its effects and impressions on soldiers, civilians, journalists and politicians of the day. Professor Rable was one of the speakers at a Battle of Fredericksburg 150^th Anniversary event co-sponsored by the National Park Service, the Fredericksburg Area Museum, and the University of Mary Washington.

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University of Mary Washington history professor Jeffrey McClurken talks about the Civil War leading up to December 1862. He discusses the political situations in the North and South, and traces changes in the Union and Confederate commands to that point in the war. Using the words of politicians, military officers, journalists, and people living in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia during that period, Professor McClurken sets the stage for the Battle of Fredericksburg, which was fought from December 11th to the 13th, 1862. 

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The New-York Historical Society hosts this discussion with historians Harold Holzer, James McPherson, and William Davis, who talk about Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as opposing Civil War commanders-in-chief.

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Dennis Frye, author and chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, talks about the state of the war in early September 1862. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was poised to invade the North, causing alarm among northern government officials and citizens. General Lee’s goal was Pennsylvania, but by what route and through what cities and towns was unclear.

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Two historians talk about the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1862 and 1864, which involved some of the fiercest fighting of the War. This is the fourth in a series of sessions from a conference organized by the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. The theme of this year’s gathering was Leadership and Generalship in the Civil War. The Virginia Military Institute hosted the conference.

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Each year, Time magazine selects a person who had the most influence on events during the previous twelve months. If the same question were posed in 1862, who would Time have selected as the Person of the Year? Five historians will ponder that question and present their candidates for Person of the Year 1862 at a forum organized by Museum of the Confederacy and hosted by the Library of Virginia.

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The National Park Service rededicates Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial. As the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and after a six-year restoration effort, Americans can once again see the house much as Lee knew it.

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Historian Frank O’Reilly of the National Park Service discusses the Battle of Chancellorsville, which was fought from April 30th to May 6th, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The fighting resulted in more than 30 thousand total causalities. Historians widely consider the Battle of Chancellorsville to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory.

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Scholars discuss the contributions of U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War and how they are remembered at various battle sites. The panel also takes a critical look at the characterization of black troops in the 1989 film “Glory,” which focuses on the 54th Massachusetts – one of the first all-black units to fight for the Union. This event was part of a conference at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

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Civil War scholars give a historical perspective on the physical and mental battlefield trauma suffered by soldiers in fighting the bloodiest war in American history. More than 625,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some historians believe the death toll exceeded 700,000. This event was part of a conference at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

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