We hope all our readers are having a good December and getting ready for Christmas! This month we are launching a new initiative here at Irish in the American Civil War. In the months ahead we will be recording video discussions where we chat about topics relating to the Irish and immigrant experience, both among ourselves and with invited guests. The format will probably be tweaked as we get into it- as might the name, which at present is just tentative! In this first installment, we had a look at how the Irish during the Civil War celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas, and also had a chat about the Battle of Fredericksburg on the occasion of the 160th anniversary. We hope you enjoy it- all feedback and/or suggestions regarding potential topics are most welcome!