Civil War Series

The Battle of Stone's River took place in cold, icy conditions  on New Year's Eve, 150 years ago. This battle near  Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was significant for military and political reasons. Dr. Glenn LaFantasie of the WKU Institute for Civil War Studies says President Abraham Lincoln needed a Union victory so he could proceed with the Emancipation Proclamation from a position of strength.

WKU Military Historian Dr. Jack Thacker says soldiers from both sides faced some of the most difficult weather conditions encountered during the Civil War, and that fact was reflected in the high casualties suffered by Confederate and Union troops.

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.