Please note: Optional Dinner will start at 6:00 PM. The Lecture will start at 7:00 PM. To make dinner reservations, email CvilleCWRT@gmail.com and indicate your entree choice: beef, salmon or chicken. Dinner includes salad and dessert. Cost is $24 for members and $30 for non-members.

LECTURE TOPIC: On December 11, 1862, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, planned to have his engineers "throw" a number of bridges across the Rappahannock River. Three of them would then carry the Army's 40,000-man Right Grand Division directly into the town of Fredericksburg. What Burnside had not counted on, however, was the presence in the river town of a very contentious brigade of Mississipians led by Brig. Gen. William Barksdale.

SPEAKER: Rick Britton is an award-winning historian living in Charlottesville, Virginia. Along with his writing, he teaches classes on Virginia’s amazing history, illustrates maps for books and websites, and conducts tours of Virginia’s numerous fascinating historic sites.