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- [00:00]
Don Wildman
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- [00:32]
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- [01:00]
Howie Mandel
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- [01:30]
Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
games lunch was great, but this traffic is awful. Um, can we stop at a bathroom? Are you alright? And keep having stomach issues after eating like diarrhea, gas and bloating, abdominal pain and sometimes oily stools.
- [01:43]
Creon Medication Informant
Sound familiar? Those stomach issues may actually be a pancreas issue called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency or epi. Creon Pancrelipase may help manage epi. Creon is a prescription medicine used to treat people who can't digest food normally because their pancreas doesn't make enough enzymes.
- [02:00]
Creon Medication Warning Announcer
Creon may increase your chance of fibrosing colonopathy, a rare bowel disorder. Tell your doctor if you have a history of intestinal blockage or scarring or thickening of your bowel wall. If you are allergic to pork or if you have gout, kidney problems or worsening of painful swollen joints. Call your doctor if you have any unusual or severe gastrointestinal symptoms or allergic reactions. Take Creon as directed by your doctor and always with food. Do not chew capsules as this may cause mouth irritation. Other side effects may include blood sugar changes, gas, dizziness, sore throat and cough These are not all the side effects of Creon. Call 800-639-110 or visit creoninfo.com to learn more. That's C R-O-N-Info.com I'm asking my doctor
- [02:29]
Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
about EPI and if Creon could help.
- [02:38]
Don Wildman
It is just past dawn on December 11, 1862, along the chilly banks of the Rappahannock river across from Fredericksburg, Virginia. Union engineers move quietly through the dim light of a breaking day. This past week, the long awaited pontoons required to cross the river have finally arrived. Now, if bridges can be assembled today. This morning, the army of the Potomac gathered nearby. Some 120,000 troops, tens of thousands of horses and mules, 300 artillery pieces, all under the command of General Ambrose Burnside, can begin to surge into empty Fredericksburg and then push southward to Richmond, the Confederate capital. But in these quiet hours on the river, as engineers struggle with numbing fingers to secure pontoons and planking, the men freeze.
- [03:32]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
What is that?
- [03:33]
Don Wildman
The engineers duck for cover, scattering along the unfinished bridge. That town over there isn't abandoned. Rebel riflemen. Turns out Mississippian snipers hidden in houses along the riverfront have all been watching from windows and cellars. And now every Union man out here is squarely in their sights. Suddenly, that straightforward crossing General Burnside had planned seems nearly impossible. Hi all, it's me. It's Don Wildman, and this is American History Hit transporting us today to the chilly weeks of November and December 1862 in the lands south of Washington D.C. and north of Richmond, Virginia, as we tell the astonishing story of the Battle of Fredericksburg in and we'll do this under the tutelage of Chris Makowski, professor of journalism at St. Bonaventure University in Allegheny. Go Bonnies. He is the Copy Hill Civil War fellow with our good friends at the American Battlefield Trust. Editor in chief of Emerging Civil War author of more than 25 books. Where does he find the time? Dr. Makowski. Hello, Chris. Nice to be with you.
- [04:49]
Chris Makowski
Don. It is a pleasure to be back. Thanks for having me.
- [04:52]
Don Wildman
Let's dive right in. Late fall, 1862. We're a year and a half into the Civil War. Where do things stand for the North?
- [05:00]
Chris Makowski
Things have been pretty precarious because Robert E. Lee, as the commander of the army of Northern Virginia, has scored a series of victories that has taken him up into Maryland. And there he's finally repulsed by the army of the Potomac and he falls back into Virginia. Abraham Lincoln is been really kind of upset that his armies have not Been able to score more victories. He's been telling them, gosh, gosh, you've got to push forward. And it becomes particularly important because after that battle of Antietam in Maryland, he issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which is going to free all the enslaved people who are in areas of rebellion. But in order to enforce that, you've got to have battlefield victories. And so he really needs his army of the Potomac in the east to score a win, and they really haven't been able to do that. You know, the stakes are especially high for that army, and their commander, a guy named George McCullen, just isn't doing a whole lot to follow up his victory, even though Lincoln's prodding him. So that's kind of the situation as fall begins to start to turn a winner.
- [06:00]
Don Wildman
Yeah, he's been chastised, I guess would be a word for it. And he's soon to be fired for not pursuing the Confederates after Antietam. I mean, that's basically what it boils down to, right? As far as Lincoln's concerned, pretty much.
- [06:11]
Chris Makowski
You know, he's. You know, McClellan has this huge army. It does have some really significant supply issues. McClellan is one of the great logistical geniuses of the war and should be able to fix that. And he's pretty sl it. Instead, he spends a lot of time whining about it, and, you know, Lincoln's like, show me answers, not complaints. But Lincoln hasn't been able to do anything about McClellan because of the fall elections. They are midterm elections. Lincoln's expecting to get drubbed at the poll, or at least the Republican party is expecting to get dropped at the poll. And. And McClellan's a very popular Democrat, so do something to. McClellan would really poke that beehive going into those elections. So that's also a really important dynamic.
- [06:51]
Don Wildman
He will be replaced by a man. We'll speak of a lot here, Ambrose Burnside, who is reluctant himself to accept this post, believing that he was not qualified for such a large command. Had he been so frank with. With Lincoln, he had.
- [07:02]
Chris Makowski
In fact, he'd been offered command of the army twice before and had turned it down. He said, it's beyond my capacity. But by that point in the war, we have to remember Burnside has scored some important victories, particularly along the North Carolina coast. So he's kind of like where it's at as far as war heroes and experience. And his men really love him. He's. He's. Well, respect by his peers, but everybody sort of knows that like, yeah, Burnside's amiable, but probably not up for army command. But Lincoln finally says, if you don't take it, I'm going to give it to your chief rival, a guy named Joe Hooker. And that's sort of what coerces Burnside into finally, reluctantly taking command.
- [07:40]
Don Wildman
Burnside, famous for his glorious and hirsute facial hair, which then goes on to become Burnside, becomes side Burns. And here we are living with the. The legacy of this man's hair for the rest of our. I think about it every time I shave my sideburn. What does the Union army want to do at Fredericksburg? I've placed us geographically, of course, we're south of D.C. what is the strategy here?
- [08:07]
Chris Makowski
The idea is to really get across the river and make a mad dash at Richmond. Capture the Confederate capital. It's the old capture the flag idea. Fredericksburg is particularly important because there is a road network there that would facilitate the movement of the army. There's a railroad that would help supply the Army. And of course, you know, Fredericksburg springs up because of those transportation infrastructures and the river that is there. So it's a really important port. So, you know, that's why Fredericksburg exists in the first place. That river, the Rappahannock river, is a significant barrier. It flows from west to east, and if Burnside's going from north to south, he's got to get across that river. And Robert E. Lee knows that Burnside has got to get across that river and uses that river to block him.
- [08:51]
Don Wildman
Weirdly, I have rode across that river in a former television iteration, and it is a big river, the Rappahannock.
- [08:57]
Chris Makowski
It's not.
- [08:57]
Don Wildman
It's no small channel water there.
- [08:59]
Chris Makowski
And as you get further down river, it gets wider, too, and it's affected by the tides. So it's a really challenging water course, as you mentioned.
- [09:06]
Don Wildman
Yeah, we often marvel. It's just a side comment here that the south just didn't March into Washington, D.C. at the beginning of this war and take the capital. But the south was equally fearful of the north doing the same for Richmond, weren't they?
- [09:19]
Chris Makowski
Absolutely. And the Confederate army has a little bit more flexibility as far as being able to maneuver. Jefferson Davis, the Confederate capital, never explicitly says to Robert E. Lee, like, you have to keep this army between the Federals and the Capitol, you know, so that allows Lee to move around a lot. But Lincoln is always saying, like, you need to defend the Capitol to whoever happens to be commander of the day in the army of the Potomac. And that becomes a Real limit on their ability to move and maneuver and where they can go and when.
- [09:50]
Don Wildman
Where is Lee and the army of Northern Virginia? Not in Northern Virginia.
- [09:54]
Chris Makowski
They had fallen back into Northern Virginia after Antietam. They had split in half. So Lee's got Stonewall Jackson's half of the army over in the Shenandoah Valley, sort of threatening the right flank of the Federal Army. And then Lee has James Longstreet fallen back a little bit to just sort of contest any advance that the Federals make. And this is, I think, one of Burnside's best moments, because he steals a march on Robert E. Lee and swings over to Fredericksburg from a position a little further to the west near the Blue Ridge Mountains. And he gets to Fredericksburg first, and Longstreet has to react. And Lee actually wants to send him further south to a place called the North Anna River. And only Jefferson Davis's insistence that they defend Fredericksburg, does that force Lee and Longstreet to go back up to Fredericksburg and block the river. But Burnside gets to the river and he can't get across. And this is kind of one of the great controversies of this campaign, I've always wondered.
- [10:51]
Don Wildman
This is really the last of the. Of the Napoleonic wars, isn't it, in terms of huge, massive armies being moved around by these strategic minds. That's really how you can characterize the Civil War in one regard.
- [11:05]
Chris Makowski
Absolutely. And, you know, here we're still in a portion of the war where we're going to see giant bodies of men sweeping across open fields and standing out in the open, just taking absolutely massive casualties as they slug it out in the Open. As 1863 evolves, we're going to see more defensive warfare. And then certainly when we get to 1864, it's nearly defensive the entire time for the Confederates.
- [11:30]
Don Wildman
So the journey and the crossing. Let's talk about this. A hundred thousand Union troops have to move from a place called Warren, Virginia, near D.C. to Falmouth, which is on one side of the Rappahannock. And as you've mentioned, moving them across. Take us through these maneuvers as we arrive at the point of battle.
- [11:48]
Chris Makowski
So Burnside basically makes this sweeping quick march off to his east, and he gets to the Rappahannock. He knows he's got to get across the river. The Confederates have destroyed the bridges because the Federals were actually in this area in the spring of 62. And so they've destroyed the railroad bridge, the traffic bridge. And Burnside calls ahead to his commander up in Washington I'm going to need bridging materials. Send them down to me. And the army had used these bridging materials as it came south from Antietam. So they're way up the Potomac, and they have to get shifted into place. And Burnside, Superior, a guy named Henry Halleck, really doesn't see particular urgency about the whole thing, so he doesn't put the hurry up on the order. So Burnside gets to the river. He's got the jump on Robert E. Lee and can't get across the river because his bridging stuff is not there.
- [12:39]
Don Wildman
And when we talk of bridging stuff, what are you talking about? What kind of materials?
- [12:42]
Chris Makowski
So they have these giant hollow boats called pontoons, and they're about 33ft long. They weigh a ton and a half. They're huge. They have to be carried on their own wagons. And essentially what the engineers would do is put a pontoon into the river, float it into place, kind of anchor it there, then float another one in beside it, and then they would link them using bridging material. So you'd have a plank road or a plank bridge that then you could pull up behind you when you left. So it's kind of a mobile set of bridging materials.
- [13:12]
Don Wildman
And for a general who knows his mandate is to move fast, this has to be very frustrating because suddenly he's stuck, and there are Confederates across the river taking pot shots at him.
- [13:23]
Chris Makowski
Right, exactly. And, you know, there is a small force in Fredericksburg that's able to kind of put up some sort of token resistance. But if Burnside could just get across, his avenue to Richmond's wide open, there it is, and he can't. And it's. It's weeks before this gets resolved, and the weather's miserable. The pontoons have an odyssey worthy of a book on its own to get into place. It's miserable for these guys. And that allows Robert E. Lee to pull into position, block the way, and then send word to Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, hey, I need you out here. You need to finally shift into position so I can consolidate the Army.
- [14:00]
Don Wildman
Chris, every time you read about the Battle of Frederick, the. The issue of the snipers comes up, you know, early in the. In the action.
- [14:07]
Chris Makowski
What.
- [14:07]
Don Wildman
What's the importance of that?
- [14:08]
Chris Makowski
So when the engineers start to build these pontoon bridges on the morning of December 11th, they get about halfway across the river before the snipers open up. And, you know, of course, you can't build the bridge if you don't have the engineers. And so the engineers all run away to get out from COVID And it's a way for the Confederates to stall the Federal advance across the river. So once the firing stops, the engineers come out, they start building again. They start getting shot at by the sn. And this back and forth happens until finally Henry Hunt, the commander of the Federal artillery, says, let's just try to bombard the city and drive these snipers out of the way. But it's a real frustration for Burnside, who's hoping to get across the river quickly. And at one point, he says, the entire army is being held by the throat by just a few snipers. So it is really, really a huge time buyer for Lee because he gets the whole day of December 11th as a result of this delaying action by the snipers.
- [15:02]
Don Wildman
So the Union had moved from Warrenton to Falmouth around the middle of November expecting that they would get these pontoons and move across expeditiously. That doesn't happen. It takes weeks for those. Those materials to arrive. And by the time those bridges are really built, we're in the middle of December, aren't we?
- [15:20]
Howie Mandel
Yeah.
- [15:20]
Chris Makowski
And Burnside is looking for options. Does he go downriver and try to cross? But we, you know, mentioned a second ago how problematic the river's air. Should he go up river? But there are a lot of river crossings the Confeder can contest. So he decides he's just going to cross at Fredericksburg and try to use the city as a shield. And he has one of the most mediocre endorsements of any general offering their own plan. He says if we cross there, it'll be just as well as across any place else in the Confederacy. We just, yeah, it's like, oh, yeah, that sounds really confident.
- [15:50]
Don Wildman
Inspires men, doesn't it?
- [15:52]
Chris Makowski
Doesn't it, though? But he is finally going to get things into position where he can start to cross in the morning of December 11th. And that's really what's going to set the ball in motion.
- [16:01]
Don Wildman
So 150 federal guns shell the buildings for four hours to try to remove those snipers. Among other things, a landing party under Colonel Norman Hall. Regiments from Michigan and Massachusetts successfully do cross the Rappahannock to drive those riflemen from the bank. And by December 12, we are set for this battle.
- [16:20]
Chris Makowski
For all that action that takes place on December 11, we have to remember, like Burnside's rewriting a lot of the rules of the war because his engineers do take that sniper fire that you mentioned. And so the artillery bombardment is an attempt to try to drive them out first in American history, that we're bombarding one of our own cities. When the Union troops go across in those boats, it's really the first riverine landing under fire in American history. So, like, they're having to figure out how to do that. Then there's urban combat on the 11th, and the army has never trained for that. There have been instances of urban combat before, but really this is the first time these guys have ever had to do it. So we're, they're figuring that out as they go. And so it really becomes this really improvisational assault across the river and occupation of the town. And then when Burnside gets the town, as you mentioned, on the 12th, there's like, he's not quite sure what to do next. He was hoping that if he got across the river, it was scarily out of his position. And Lee doesn't move. And so Burnside wastes the entire day on the 12th trying to figure out like, oh gosh, no, but. And he is going to finally come up with a plan and then poorly communicate that plan to his subordinates.
- [17:25]
Don Wildman
On December 13, the union assault begins. And they have initial success, but their lack of coordination, certainly with the river there, also makes it difficult. How do the Confederates react to this attack? Who's in charge of that?
- [17:39]
Chris Makowski
So basically, Burnside's going to launch simultaneous attacks against the north and south ends of the Confederate position, hoping that one or the other is going to break through. And as you mentioned, he does have success on the south end of the field where George Gordon Meade, who later will go on to win the battle of Gettysburg when he finally gets promoted, he's going to break through and he's facing a. A section of the Confederate line that has just gotten into place. Stonewall Jackson has moved into that area to consolidate Lee's army. And as Meade breaks through, Stonewall Jackson's able to start piling reinforcements in. It happens to be the spot of the line where there are more Confederates per square foot than anywhere else on the battlefield. So it's a tough spot. And Meade gets that breakthrough and he can't get reinforcements. And he desperately calls back for him. His commander, a guy named John Reynolds, is nowhere to be found. Some guys from a different section of the army refused to march to his help without orders from their command. So it really becomes this disorganized mess. The man in charge of that whole section of the field is a guy named William Franklin. And Franklin takes a very hands off approach to this. He misinterprets those confusing orders that come from Burnside does not seek clarity. You know, any general worth his salt sees an opportunity here. And Franklin instead, really plays things as conservatively as possible. So that allows the Confederates to patch that part of the lineup and drive the Federals back off that field.
- [19:06]
Don Wildman
We really see the opposition of good leadership versus bad at this point. You've got the big names for the Confederates, Stonewall Jackson, Longstreet is there. How do you compare them in terms of, you know, how they react to battle? And I mean, is it simply that they are thinking on their feet better than the Union or the preparations better?
- [19:23]
Chris Makowski
I think that absolutely both of those are true. Lee really, really values independent thinking, and he sort of tells his subordinates, like, here's kind of what I want to have happen. Here's my intent. And you sort of figure that out, and then you take advantage of opportunities. Lee's very aggressive, and he rewards aggressive mindedness. So I think that that's all really important. And they do have a really strong defensive position. So I think that preparation is really important compared to the Federal side, where there's sort of this calcified way of doing things. This army has its mindset, and there are protocols and ways to do it, and that really works against leadership for a long time during the war. It's going to take a while for the dust to shake off there.
- [20:04]
Don Wildman
Longstreet is dug in as you at the Sunken Road. There's another horrible place called the Slaughter Pen. Can you explain to me why these names?
- [20:13]
Chris Makowski
So the Slaughter Pen Farm is that area in the south end of the field where me breaks through, and then the counterattacks happen, and it just becomes a slaughter pen. That's one of the descriptions that one of the soldiers makes in writing about how awful that fighting was, and the landscape looked like a slaughter pen. The north end of the field where Longstreet is, is a series of heights called Marie's Heights Heights. There is literally a sunken road that runs along the front of some of those heights. There's a stone wall along that road. So it's a great fortified position. And so Longstreet has a great topographical advantage against the Federals that are attacking him there. And he's able to beat off attacks, seven waves of attacks throughout the day on the 13th and sustain pretty minimal casualties in comparison.
- [20:57]
Don Wildman
Sunken Road doesn't sound like a great place to fight from, though.
- [20:59]
Chris Makowski
Well, you know, it is a great place to fight from, so long as the Federals don't break through. But as they discovered at Antietam, where the Confederates held a sunken road, once the Federals did break through, the Confederates were trapped like fish in a barrel. And so that could be one of the disadvantages of this position. But fortunately there's a real strong artillery position just behind and above them called Marie's Heights. The Confederates have about 45 guns up there, and the Confederate artillery commander tells Longstreet, when I open on that field in front of me, a chicken couldn't live out there. And he pretty much proves it.
- [21:42]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
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- [22:01]
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- [22:31]
Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
Lunch was great, but this traffic is awful. Um, can we stop at a bathroom? Are you alright? And keep having stomach issues after eating, like diarrhea, gas and bloating, abdominal pain and sometimes oily stools.
- [22:43]
Creon Medication Informant
Sound familiar? Those stomach issues may actually be a pancreas issue called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or epi. Creon pancrelipase may help manage epi. Creon is a prescription medicine used to treat people who can't digest digest food normally because their pancreas doesn't make enough enzymes.
- [23:00]
Creon Medication Warning Announcer
Creon may increase your chance of fibrosing colonopathy, a rare bowel disorder. Tell your doctor if you have a history of intestinal blockage or scarring or thickening of your bowel wall, if you are allergic to port or if you have gout, kidney problems or worsening of painful swollen joints. Call your doctor if you have any unusual or severe gastrointestinal symptoms or allergic reactions. Take Creon as directed by your doctor and always with food. Do not chew capsules as this may cause mouth irritation. Other side effects may include blood sugar changes, gas, dizziness, sore throat and cough. These are not all the side effects of Creon. Call 800-633-9110 or visit creoninfo.com to learn more. That's creoninfo.com I'm asking my doctor about
- [23:29]
Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
epi and if Creon could help.
- [23:31]
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- [24:33]
Don Wildman
9000 casualties as the Confederates counterattack in an open field at Slaughter pen. I mean, 9,000 guys. Over what period of time does this happen?
- [24:42]
Chris Makowski
So the attacks are supposed to start at dawn. They don't start until mid morning, goes back and forth till about 3 o' clock o' clock in the afternoon. And those 9,000 casualties are pretty evenly split. There's going to be about 5,000 federal casualties, about 4,000 Confederate casualties. So, you know, just those closeness and numbers show you how intense and how close that fighting was. There's a huge disparity at the north end of the field when it comes to casualties, though, which shows just how strong the Confederate position was up there. You know, they're going to be about 9,000 federal casualties up there and only about a thousand Confederate casualties.
- [25:20]
Don Wildman
Or side note, Chris, you work with the American Battlefield Trust, who are so kind to us on this on this podcast. Preserving that battlefield was a very high priority for them, wasn't it?
- [25:30]
Chris Makowski
Absolutely. For so long, the story of Fredericksburg really focused around the sunken road and the action on the north end of the field. But the real battle and kind of the hinge of the battle was on the south end of the field at that slaughter pen farm. It's the last major open attack plane for the 1862 campaigns. You get to see, as you mentioned earlier, the Napoleonic movement, troops sweeping across the plane, and it was under development threat. And so preserving that really not only helped then tell that story and save that story, but it also really reinterpreted the Battle of Fredericksburg in important ways. So the purchase of that ground had many, many significant ramifications.
- [26:12]
Don Wildman
Yeah. So interesting. So important. December 15th, Burnside has to retreat back across the Rappahannock. Oh, my goodness. After all the effort getting across. Back they go. This is the end of the 1862 campaign in the Eastern theater, which is something to keep in mind in these days. You know, back then, this is a seasonal thing. They're going to close down for winter, and we're going to pick back up in the. In the early spring with. With the whole Civil War. That's how it was done in those days. Not a great way to limp to the ending, is it?
- [26:41]
Chris Makowski
It is not. And when we consider that Lincoln really needed a battlefield victory because the Emancipation Proclamation is supposed to go into effect January 1st, he needs a battlefield victory to enforce it. And Burnside's not able to deliver. And so really, that's going to settle in that front line of emancipation right there at the Rappahannock river. And the opportunities that might have existed had Burnside had been victorious and been able to open up more of Virginia to emancipation. It's, you know, one of those kind of sad tragedies of the war when you think about it.
- [27:11]
Don Wildman
This victory at Fredericksburg, which is resounding for the Confederates, boosts morale, reinvigorates them. I mean, you can only imagine coming out of the. The first full year of the war, 1862, suddenly, things are going very, very well and will continue to go well. By the way, when. When things start back up in. In the spring again, it will go on to become the triumph of Chancellorsville, May 1863. It's just remarkable. I mean, it really is. And I guess this Emancipation Proclamation has something to do with this. Has a lot to do with this, how the Union found its mission at this time when things had gone so badly through the fall of 1862 and into the spring of 1863.
- [27:49]
Chris Makowski
Absolutely. And, you know, as Burnside is losing in Fredericksburg, William T. Sherman then loses outside of Vicksburg at a place called Chickasaw Bayou right around Christmas. And then there's a big army in central Tennessee, the Army of the Cumberland, that kind of pulls out a victory by default because the Confederates evacuate the battlefield right as 1862 turn in 1863, at the battle of stones River. And Lincoln is so desperate for a victory that he considers that. That brutal fight at Stones river as being like, oh, that's what finally gives me some sort of teeth to the Emancipation Proclamation. He says, the nation couldn't have survived without it, but this is a really low point for the federals and a really high point for the Confederates.
- [28:32]
Don Wildman
Yeah, exactly. Victory at Fredericksburg. Let's talk about the numbers. Just so we. We know. The Union of Army of Potomac. 12,500 casualties. Confederate Army. Half of that, 6,000 losses. Six weeks after the battle, Lincoln removes Burnside from command and appoints major General Joseph Hooker as commander of the army of Potomac. But we're in that revolving door at this point, Right. These. The Union cannot find its guy.
- [28:56]
Chris Makowski
Yeah. And Burnside knew it, and he knew he wasn't the guy. He actually submits his resignation, which Lincoln takes. It is important to note Lincoln doesn't fire Burnside after Fredericksburg because there's plenty of blame to go around. Franklin takes a lot for botching things in the south end of the field. The engineers take a lot for not getting the pontoons there. And it's just because morale among the officers is so low. There's sort of a coup against Burnside. He wants to clean office. And he finally says, look, I can't. This is too much. Here's my resignation. And Lincoln accepts it. So then the. The door revolves, and in comes Hooker.
- [29:29]
Don Wildman
It's so much about timing with the battle of Gettysburg. And we haven't talked really enough about the election part of this. I mean, it was really a delay factor for Lincoln. He'd get asked the midterms for this battle to really take place. And then he's supercharging Burnside to a point of putting him at risk. Right.
- [29:48]
Chris Makowski
Absolutely. Burnside realizes he's got no good options here. He wants to settle into the winter encampment and then hope that he'll have some better idea or some better options in the spring. And Lincoln's like, no, we've had the emancipation proclamation coming. Folks went to the polls, and they want action. Morale is terrible. You got to do something. So Burnside knows he has bad choices, and Lincoln drives him into making what might be the best of a bunch of bad choices. That's still a bad choice.
- [30:16]
Don Wildman
Chris, what's the big takeaway from the battle of Fredericksburg for you?
- [30:20]
Chris Makowski
Well, a lot of people forget this is the largest battle of the civil war. There are 201,000 men engaged, so it makes it bigger than Gettysburg, even though Gettysburg, you know, takes place over three days, has more casualties. So for me, Fredericksburg is often overlooked. And as soon as you realize, gosh, this is the biggest battle, there are all sorts of those great little surprises. If you take the time to study one of these lesser known battles, there's really, really a lot to explore and discover. They can tell you a lot about leadership, about logistics, about politics, about the social side of things. You know, this takes place in a city itself. So I encourage folks to, to spend some time looking at this battle on their own and seeing what discoveries they might make specifically about logistics.
- [31:03]
Don Wildman
I mean, does the Union just get better at understanding the lay of the land in as the Civil War goes on? Because a lot of this tragedy would have been averted if you just known better what the, what the land looked like and, and not get stuck with
- [31:16]
Chris Makowski
it, you know, and what makes it even more inexcusable is the federal army was here in the spring of 62. There were people in the army that knew the town, knew the area. And Burnside doesn't tap into that expertise. Knowing the land does and doesn't get better because you know, particularly in 1864 as the army's advanced further, they get into parts of Virginia that they'd never been in before. And so, you know, they have to discover as they go.
- [31:40]
Don Wildman
Still flying blind. Chris Mikowski is the skilled historian you've been hearing and he is a fellow with the American Battlefield Trust and no wonder for that. He is also a professor of journalism and communications at Saint Bonaventure University and author of books too numerous to mention. Chris, what's new in your career and how can folks follow you?
- [31:58]
Chris Makowski
Well, best way to kind of tap into what we're up to is to go to emerging civil war dot com. There are more than 30 of us that actually are participating in that. It's a public history oriented digital platform about the Civil War. So you can find my information there. You can find out what I'm up to. List of my books, publications. I've got a couple about Fredericksburg and follow along free content every day trying to help people stay connected with America's defining event.
- [32:22]
Don Wildman
Emerging Civil war dot com. I'm going there immediately. See you later Chris. Thanks a lot.
- [32:27]
Chris Makowski
Thanks.
- [32:32]
Don Wildman
Thanks for listening to American history hit. You know every week we release new episodes, two new episodes dropping Mondays and Thursdays from mysterious missing colonies to powerful political movements to some of the biggest battles across the centuries. Don't miss an episode by hitting like and follow. You help us out, which is great. But you'll also be reminded with when our shows are on. And while you're at it, please share with a friend American history hit with me, Don Wildman. So grateful for your support. Thanks so much.
- [33:13]
Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
We're lost. It feels like we're going round in circles. I'm going to ask that man for directions. Hi there, there. We're trying to get to the state fairgrounds.
- [33:22]
Don Wildman
Well, you're going to take a left at the old oak tree at this here road.
- [33:27]
Chris Makowski
Nah, I'm just kidding.
- [33:28]
Don Wildman
Let me get my phone out.
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Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
How is there signal out here?
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Don Wildman
T Mobile and US Cellular are coming together so the network out here is huge. We get the same great signal as the city, saving a boatload with benefits. And there's a five year price guarantee too. Okay, here's the turn.
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Patient/Person with Stomach Issues
Actually, can you pull up the way to a T Mobile mobile store?
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