I live here in virginia at the sentry box. N 1786 was ailt i relative of mine. Tell us what is happening here . A recreation of the battle of fredericksburg and the crossing of the river, the forcedcrossing crossing where the union army build a pontoon bridge. They have to build it under fire from confederates, many of whom were standing right where we are right now. Ellars and behind the trees. That is the recreation of a portion of the battle of fredericksburg. How did you come down the house . That mys always known relatives built it and when it became available i purchased it 50 years ago and have never lived anywhere else but here since the time ive had the same white, same house, same job, same town, same everything. Earlierse some pictures to show us what it looked like before. This was a picture of, right behind this house, the house is in the background, probably hard to see. This was the crossing of the used at 1862 when they boats floated from washington dc and build the bridge. Is this your house right here . Right below it is the old icehouse. Same stones. Confederate soldiers were probably in the icehouse firing at the yankees come across the river. Ahis bridge was destroyed in spring flood. Tocoln crossed this bridge, show you what a bridge would really be like, this is just 100 isds of the river and that 1864. I would show you what the actual bridge would look like. Directly behind where we are, this is a union here inthat was located 1864 and that was right where the bridges. That shows you what the land looked like. Heres a picture of the house. That is the 1864 picture. A side view of the old kitchen, it was destroyed. The one that is there now was built after the civil war. I live in that house right now. We still find bullets, pieces of shells around in the yard. How long have you been planning for this event . I havent been planning very long because im not one of the officials. I know they have been working on it for a year or so. The 150th anniversary. Ate with glad to cooper them and let them use the spot. When you see this happening, how do you think things were different than what we will see here . Ive asked that question a bunch of times, it is hard to describe what it would have been like here, they will try to recreate it. They will set off a lot of fireworks to recreate the bombardment of fredericksburg but how do you recreate combat were people are getting killed . I dont know how you do that. I can explain it. Thank you very much for your time. Lata do it. Glad to do it. Im one of the historians of the National Park service at fredericksburg. In the heartdown of fredericksburg, virginia. Right on the rappahannock river. Ago, this was the sight one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war. Almost 80,000 people got hurt. It 18,000 people got hurt here. Amazing things, what is happening behind me, soldiers literally thought house by house, block by block, street by street through the downtown of fredericksburg. This is the first urban combat in all of north america. The other things that are very interesting and novel about the battle of further spurred his when the union army attended to make pontoon bridges across the river, they were stopped by confederate sharpshooters. Being army had to bombard the city tried to drive them out. They were unsuccessful. Then they had to put infantry and boats and literally carry them across the river. Bridges would have been composed of numerous boats lined up with anchors above and blistering because the rappahannock would shift back and forth. They would lay plagues across them to tie the bus together and then put floorboards across. The boats were commandeered to make the River Assault which was not the best the boats look like big shoeboxes. They have squared off ends. They were designed for stability. They were never designed to cut through the water. Men,you attach them with the boats were very close to the edge of the river. Of slicing through the robber, they plowed their way through the river. Slow and they would have been subject to gunfire the entire way. Regatta the toughest ever read. Rode. [gunfire] the men who got the boats were in the first river fire in american history. They established the first beachhead under fire in our history. The idea of launching an attack from boats under fire, landing under fire and it literally fighting did the streets of fredericksburg, these men were rewriting history. There was not a Single Person here who had thought about it, prepared for it, practiced it, they were just making it up as they went along. It is amazing how intuitive they were. When they crossed the andahannock, they crossed brought us into the modern military spirit. [gunfire] [drums] [gunfire] one of the amazing impacts of the fighting downtown is the confederates had so successfully delayed the union army that they crushed the Union Commanders plan. He was not able to get his forces across the river and struck up the confederates in a timely manner. Robert e lee had more than enough time to bring his forces. Ogether and concentrate them when the army was able to strike out from project for, 78,000 nonfederates had ringed them i and were waiting for them. And that is downtown delayed crossing and bought lee the chance to concentrate his forces. According to the general, everything that happened ofntown won the battle frontage burden and everything after that was a foregone conclusion. Tactically, what we saw were lines of men moving down the street, firing in the confederates retreating. Is that the way it happened . Union forces did march through the downtown streets. They did literally fire from the streets. Most of the confederates were the houses and rubble. Most of them had been here for two weeks prior to the battle. They had artie picked out ideal spots where they can fire on the street. When a house fell, they would quickly move back to the next defense hold position. Case, we seeing in and confederate soldiers firing in we streets but in 1850 two, would have seen a lot of Union Soldiers in the streets, but most of the confederates would have been hidden among the houses firing from the windows and alleyways. Get down boys come and get them you can talk your way out of this [drumbeat] [gunfire] my name is robert young. Im a Second Lieutenant in the United States infantry. I live in kentucky that the dean reenacting for maybe 10 years. I graduated from the military institute in 2012. I got into reenacting as i was always curious about history and a kind of wanted to reconnect with the pure American Experience which is the fundamentals of the civil war. It changed America Forever and to better understand what the war was like, what the times were like and the dynamics of the region that were affected by the war. When people are watching this reenactment today, how much do you think it will resemble historic reality . Obviously the streets and New Buildings were to turn the actual battle. But for the most part, this is going to be pretty accurate representation as in your courtesy any of the same firing procedures and most of these guys have been staying on a the mosttwo living authentic way possible try to reconnect and understand what it was like during the civil war. I think the spectators will have a good experience watching the battle. It is fun to watch guns and stuff, but actually see the struggle of what the soldiers experienced is the best thing we can give to the spectators so they can understand the civil war and understand really the culture of america. Bottle battle, how could you summarize it for us . Essentially it was one of the the concept of using the bows to assault the bridge has been around for a while, but had not been well tested. This is one of the first most famous street battles that ever happened in the civil war. It concluded later in the day. Of, the best way to win it, allout slaughter. These are mostly the same streets, the same amount of people, as best as we can do and the same type of equipment in uniform that would have been. Round at the time period of reenacting is not out here, it is sitting around reading books and studying and purred preparing. I can probably tell you that im going to be jumping around like a chicken with my head cut off screaming at people because im a Sergeant Major here. [gunfire] in real life, Second Lieutenant. Which of the opposite of a Sergeant Major. Graduated from institute and a waiting on my orders to go to Infantry School and ranger school. My name is lisa clark and im from westfield, indiana. 20 miles north of indianapolis. What brings you all this way . I was here for the 140th totle and the opportunity participate in view the 150 atnactment of this battle fredericksburg, you always see Something Like this onceinalifetime. Im from virginia. Why are you doing what you are doing here today . We enjoy interpreting history. Had you determine how you dressed . We do a lot of research before we are trust to make sure everything we have is correct. It may not be original because you dont want to take anything original out that we make sure multiple e as possible. The man never talks, he was the woman to the talking for him. Even in the civil war. [laughter] happy life. E, this is my 1st street battle and is absolutely wonderful. The Historical Places here are glorious. It is a battle and you get to engage with the people on the street. An answer a lot of questions. What kind of things to people ask you . People are curious about how women survived during an occupied time. Research, what did the civilians do during the battle . I can tell you much about this particular battle but i can generically tell you what would have happened for another occupied city. Women would have been the hardest hit. They would have been short of food, if they stayed. If they do not refugee to an outside area if they had family they would have left. Soldiersd have taken , they wouldves had to figure out a way to survive without the man. It was very difficult. When you have soldiers whether they are from the north or the south, soldiers are rough. Careful. Very you have to be very careful. From name is bjorn and im belgium, the town with a beer la. W still on for stel that is about imply. Brigade, theyish put a piece of green on the hat to show people they were from ireland and a connection with the aisles isles. I got hidden in my arm, im wounded. I hope they dont have to amputated. Take amputate it. [gunfire] could you explain the park Service Policy on reenacting . The policy for reenacting a National Parkland changed now. Service was not only looking at battlefields, but they were also looking to preserve in perpetuity. Unfortunately battles that part of the landscape so badly that even the recreation has an impact on the land. One of the things that the congress has charged the National Park service is saving the ground and saving it forever. Fredericksburg city today versus fredericksburg the city making 62, house a different . The world has changed so much. The city has grown up. At the same time, the anything about fredericksburg is that it still retains that vital essence of what made it a great city in 1862. Even as people go through the downtown, they see modern landscapes and historic landscapes. They see modern architecture next to historic architecture. It has a beautiful symmetry to it. It is not that one replaces the other, but what enhances the other. The city is growing and doing great. You can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website cspan. Org history. The cspan radio app makes it used to do continue to follow the 2016 election wherever you are. It is free to download from the Apple App Store or google play. Get audio coverage and uptotheminute Schedule Information or cspan radio and cspan television and podcast popularr potluck or Public Affairs programs. Cspans radio app means you always have cspan on the go. Next, early members of the National Organization for women celebrate the groups 50th anniversary. They discussed the need for a network of feminist activities in the 1960s and 70s. And they remember leaders of the method including founder betty for dan. Part of a larger Conference Held in washington, d. C. It is about 90 minutes. Ok then, we will start. I will be the moderator of the workshop today. Nothing but stars on the panel here today