Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862 (Emerging Civil War Series)

I used this book with a day to see and learn as much about the battlefield as possible! This is a stop by stop, read a few pages and WALK the stops kind of book. Supplemented by interpretive markers at each stop; you can't go wrong with having a good sense of what happened.Pre-read the in-depth stuff before you visit the battlefield and use this book. If you use it as intended you will walk away very satisfied.Maps, when they are there are very detailed - but no compass rose to guide you (I've been told that means top is always North) but leaving something this basic was a hinderance (as I didn't know / assume the top was North at the time I was walking). 4 stars because of the map challengeFinally, encourage everyone to support the great independent publisher, Savas Beatie who publishes this series - hit their website and check out their many publications

This short book was a charming surprise. Frankly, I got it in the recent Amazon holiday sale, and I wasn't expecting much.The Fredericksburg battle was a bloodbath, and a lop-sided Confederate victory. The authors provide an informative, concise description of the battle, which suited my needs perfectly. Plenty of quotes from generals, soldiers, and civilians are sprinkled throughout. Sources are provided for those looking for a more scholarly approach to this battle; having just read Sears's "A Landscape Turned Red," I wasn't looking for that level of detail on this battle yet. So, this book provided a good introduction -- just what I wanted. Interestingly, the book focuses on the southern flank, although there is a detailed, lengthy chapter on the more famous, doomed assault on Marye's Heights.The book also provides a type of local history and a battlefield tour. It offers directions from the tour center to the key points of the battlefield. I haven't done the tour yet, but if I did, I would certainly find this book helpful as a refresher and walking guide. Among other things, it certainly is good to know where to find restrooms and where to avoid snakes.There were some excellent appendices on civilians and slaves in Fredericksburg, and how the soldiers celebrated the Christmas of 1862. There was also interesting analysis of how the battle of Fredericksburg has evolved in the collective memory. In that section, and throughout the book, the authors point out various details about the battlefield and how its memorialization has changed over time and to suit various purposes; fitting the rest of the book, it's an appropriately light critique. For example, the authors point out that the Irish Brigade gets a lot of attention for its assault on Marye's Heights, but that's mainly because the Irish themselves publicized their participation in it.The authors even defend Burnside at points, who they argue was pressured by Lincoln to secure a victory before the Emancipation Proclamation. Lee, in comparison, didn't do much with the victory (just like his prior victory, at Antietam), probably because he couldn't, or maybe didn't have to.All of these events, details, and viewpoints are buttressed by an amazing array of diaries, letters, and so forth, which help bring the battle (and all of its awful consequences) to life. I couldn't find footnotes for these citations, but I didn't let that bother me.I read the Kindle version, and there were many distracting typos (not reflected in my star rating). Making up for this were plenty of photos and quite excellent battle maps. The maps, and some photos, were easy to read on my Kindle, which was much appreciated. Photos of the modern battlefield were mixed with historical illustrations and photos of the actual sites of the time.To sum up, "Simply Murder" is like a long magazine article or two with sidebars. All in all, the book packs a lot in and is a good starting point for exploring the battlefield itself and for deeper reading.

The first time I visited Fredericksburg, Va was in May of 1960. Standing at the stone wall of the Sunken Road, I looked down and saw where the Federals attempted to break lee's line. I was 13. Once again 20 years later I was there. But the entire story of the battle had not been discovered yet. Now it has and you can read about it in this book. Historians have reevaluated the battle that, in his defeat, cost Burnside his military fame only to be remembered for the term "side burn". Today, one can look back and see that he virtually had little if any chance of victory, McClelland and Hallack had seen to that and to some extant Lincoln himself. But any chance he did have was dashed by "the puzzle of the map" which I will let the reader discover for himself. Interestingly, this book throws doubt of the Generalship of two Lost Cause icons who are memorialized in granite on the face of Stone Mountain, Georgia. Both Lee and Longstreet approved a battle line with a fatal flaw in it that could have turned the battle against them both. Reynolds, who would die at Gettysburg the following July 1 is also heavily criticized for under performance under fire. Again, Burnside was defeated by his own side. Based on this book, I am planning to revisit Fredericksburg soon. I will be seeing it from a totally different point of view now. This book will guide me around, for after all, it is primarily a guidebook with driving directions going from stop to stop along with battle descriptions thereof. The only criticism I have is that the two authors and editor did not do a good job of proof reading. There are quite a few obvious errors that should have been easily caught, they take nothing away from the story. See how many jump out at you!

I thought Fredericksburg was a pretty "open and shut" battle when I first visited Maryes Heights a year ago (2018). NOPE! There is so much more to discover about the battle and everything that leads up to it. The eastern half of the battlefield (Slaughter Pen Farm) doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves and I IMMENSELY regret not reading this before my visit last year. Now I want to go back! I want to see the places Chris and Kris highlight in the driving tour because their book made me understand the value of the sites. Their explanation of the battle in all its detail makes it real and engaging. Even the appendices at the end of the book made me eager to book a flight and take myself back to Virginia.The image attached with this review is taken at Maryes Heights during my first expedition in 2018, one of the many notable places during the battle that indeed was "simply murder".