Civil War Historians Reflect on Fredricksburg

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Credit Fredricksburg Monuments / National Park Service

Irish Brigade Memorial

The Battle of Fredricksburg took place 150 years ago this month in Virginia. This deadly confrontation between Union forces and Confederate soldiers entrenched on a hillside resulted in the deathsof thousands of soldiers, and nearly destroyed the Union's "Irish Brigade."  Dr. Glenn La Fantasie of the WKU Institute for Civil War Studies and Military Historian Dr. Jack Thacker of WKU say the Battle of Fredricksburg was marked by some questionable command decisions by Union General Ambrose Burnside.