Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862

Emerging Civil War Series

By: Chris Mackowski, Kristopher D. White

Narrated by: Joshua Saxon

Length: 4 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

They melted like snow on the ground, one officer said - wave after wave of Federal soldiers charging uphill across an open muddy plain. Confederates, fortified behind a stone wall along a sunken road, poured a hail of lead into them as they charged...and faltered...and died. “I had never before seen fighting like that, nothing approaching it in terrible uproar and destruction,” said one eyewitness to the slaughter. “It is only murder now.”

The battle of Fredericksburg is usually remembered as the most lopsided Union defeat of the Civil War. It is sometimes called “Burnside’s folly”, after Union Commander Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside who led the Army of the Potomac to ruin along the banks of the Rappahannock River. But the battle remains one of the most misunderstood and misremembered engagements of the war. Burnside started with a well-conceived plan and had every reason to expect victory. How did it go so terribly wrong?

Authors Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White have worked for years along Fredericksburg’s Sunken Road and Stone Wall, and they’ve escorted thousands of visitors across the battlefield. Simply Murder not only recounts Fredericksburg’s tragic story of slaughter, but includes invaluable information about the battlefield itself and the insights they’ve learned from years of walking the ground.

Simply Murder can be enjoyed in the comfort of one’s living room or as a guide on the battlefield itself. It is also the first release in the new Emerging Civil War series, which offers compelling and easy-to-listen-to overviews of some of the Civil War’s most important battles and issues.

About the authors: Chris Mackowski is a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York, and also works with the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, which includes the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania battlefields.

Kristopher D. White is a historian for the Penn-Trafford Recreation Board and a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served for five years as a staff military historian at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park and is a former licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg.

Longtime friends, Mackowski and White have coauthored several books and numerous articles for various Civil War magazines. They also cofounded the blog Emerging Civil War.

©2012, 2013 Savas Beatie (P)2019 Savas Beatie

Superb History

Simply Murder- The First Battle of Fredericksburg. .
This is a well written and researched history of the battle on the 13th December 1862.
Combined with excellent narration, it is easy to follow and very easy listening.
One of the best history of a civil war battle I've read.
A must read for anyone with an interest in the morning civil war.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this review.

Full of contradictions

The issue I have with this book is that the author describes how warm the day actually was (high of 57) but throughout paints the battle as freezing. With statements and assumptions of soldiers huddling around campfires during the battle that started at 11am. And how soldiers were wet and almost froze to the ground seeking shelter fron gunfire. The author even admits it was so warm that soldiers ditched their heavy Greatcoats prior to the assault. Almost 60 degrees, lots of fighting, I think this book is confusing in regards to the climate and nature of the battle. Full of contradictions. Terrific first hand accounts but I always prefer knowing exactly who said or wrote what. Id love to know the soldiers regiment rather than just being told it was written by “a Pennsylvanian”.