Frank O’Reilly received both his BA and MA degrees in American history with a concentration in early American military history and Civil War studies. He did his undergraduate work at Washington & Lee University before joining the National Park Service at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. He worked briefly at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and then returned to Fredericksburg as a historian in 1990. O’Reilly also served as an historical consultant for the city of Fredericksburg.

He has written numerous articles on the Civil War and Mexican War for national and international journals; and introductions to quite a few books. He released his first book on the Fredericksburg Campaign titled, “Stonewall Jackson at Fredericksburg,” in 1993. He has appeared in quite a few documentaries, on CSPAN, and lectured extensively on military history to audiences around the world, including several conferences in the United Kingdom at Oxford. He served as the Sesquicentennial special events coordinator for the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Overland Campaign’s 150th anniversary commemorations.

His latest book, “The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock,” received a 2003 nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters, and has won the 2002 Capital District (Albany, NY) Book Award; the 2003 James I. Robertson, Jr. Book Award; the 2004 Daniel Laney Book Award; and the 2004 Richard Barksdale Harwell Book Award.