This is the largest battle, by number of combatants, of the entire Civil War. But why? What was the federal objective at Fredericksburg? And how did it all go so wrong for Burnside and his troops?

Don is joined to explore the Battle of Fredericksburg by returning guest Chris Mackowski. Chris is the Copie Hill Fellow at the American Battlefield Trust, and a professor at the Jandolin School of Communication at St Bonaventure University.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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The words 'Donner Party' have become synonymous with disaster in the American imagination. In this week’s instalment of our Frontier miniseries, we’ll be exploring how this group of pioneers' journey across the Old West ended with fatal consequences...

To tell us more about this story, we’re very lucky to welcome Daniel James Brown as our guest. Daniel is a writer who specialises in historical non-fiction and is the author of The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's known as the deadliest single day in American history: the Battle of Antietam.

After weeks of Union defeats, Confederate forces pushed north into Maryland and carried the war onto Northern soil for the first time. Near a quiet creek in Maryland, two armies faced one another and engaged in a battle that would decide the course of American history.

To take us through today's episode, we welcome our guest Garry Adelman. Garry is an award-winning author and vice president of the Center for Civil War Photography. He works full time as Chief Historian at the American Battlefield Trust.

For those who are interested, here are some of images referenced in the episode: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2021644156/

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.