Radio Smart Talk: Confederate Approach on Harrisburg; 12 days costs

Radio Smart Talk for Wednesday, November 28:

The Confederate army, under the leadership of General Robert E. Lee, had just scored it's most decisive Civil War victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia in 1863.  Lee decided the time was right for an invasion of the north. 

It would serve several purposes: take the fighting away from war-torn Virginia, allow that state's farmers to harvest a crop, raid the bountiful farms of the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, and if he could score another battlefield win, possibly demoralize northerners enough that they would demand peace.

Capturing Harrisburg initially was not a major objective.  At the time, Pennsylvania's capital city appeared to be there for the taking.   Carlisle and Mechanicsburg had already been occupied by the Confederates.  But as the Confederates moved toward Harrisburg, the main forces of both armies met at Gettysburg and that's where the turning point of the war occurred.

Author Cooper H. Wingert describes what was happening in June 1863 in south central Pennsylvania in his new book -- The Confederate Approach on Harrisburg.  He'll be a guest on Wednesday's Radio Smart Talk.

Cooper Wingert is 14 years-old and has written three other books about the Gettysburg Campaign.

Also, the holiday classic -- The 12 Days of Christmas -- can give us a sense of where our economy stands when we compare the costs of the items in the song to other years.  PNC Wealth Management did just that and we'll hear from them as well. 

Listen to the program: