The Battle of Fredericksburg

The year is 1862. The first full year of the Civil War is almost over, but the Union army has yet to win a decisive victory of Robert E. Lee and his Confederate troops. Struggling with Generals, President Lincoln continuously appoints new men to lead the Yankees to victory. Lincoln chooses Ambrose Burnside to lead the Union in battle. Burnside’s first test with the Union army will be a harsh winter campaign where he will meet Robert E. Lee in the town of Fredericksburg to fight one of the most intriguing battles of the Civil War.

General Robert E. Lee was born to Revolutionary War heroes. His father was nicknamed “Light Horse Harry” Lee, his mother was Ann Carter. While Robert was young his father squandered the family’s money and the Lees faced financial problems. Lee attended West Point, graduating 2^nd in his class in 1829. After Graduation, Lee served as Second Lieutenant in the Engineers where he supervised construction of a fort and flood before gaining recognition from Winfield Scott. Lee served during the Mexican war, and was injured at Chapultepec in 1847. He then received a promotion in rank after his injury. Lee also served as the Superintendent of the US Military Academy, the Colonel of Cavalry, and Commanded the Department of Texas in 1860. At the beginning of the War, Lincoln offered Lee a commanding position, but he declined and three days later joined the Confederate Army. Lee became a military advisor to Jefferson Davis, and later was placed in Command of the Army in Virginia. Lee’s military strategy was probably the best of his time; he anticipated his opponents and comprehended their weaknesses well. Also, he knew the importance of field fortifications. General Robert E. Lee, as history would prove, would be a force to be reckoned with.

On the other hand, General Ambrose Burnside was less confident of himself, which would later show to be a severe problem. A native of Indiana, Burnside graduated from West Point, but did not graduate high in his class. Once out of school, Burnside left his mark on the world before going to the army. Burnsides trademark mutton-chop whiskers became a fashion trend, being called Sideburns after the famous General. Also, Burnside was an inventor. Burnside, in 1853, resigned from the Army to manufacture a breech-loading rifle. This self-designed rifle was refused a contract from the government, so Burnside was forced to assign the patents to creditors. Before Fredericksburg, Burnside was active in the war from the day that it was declared. After Fort Sumter, he raised the 1^st Rhode Island Regiment, which impressed Lincoln, resulting in a presidential friendship between Ambrose and Abraham. He led at 1^st Manassas, and on the North Carolina coast. After capturing the coastal Fort Macon, General Burnside became a Union hero. Soon, he was offered by Lincoln to lead the Army of the Potomac. Burnside refused, believing that he lacked the abilities to lead the Army. Ambrose refused again, but on the third time he accepted the job and became in command of the Army of the Potomac. Early on he faced trouble, at Antietam Burnside blundered and lost many, creating the nickname for the troubled bridge where it occurred “Burnside’s Bridge”. But blundering was not a fluke, and an even more disastrous military mistake lie ahead on the banks of the Rappahannock, at the town of Fredericksburg.

The year of 1862 had been a rough year for the Union army, as well as the Confederate Army. The Confederacy had lost at Fort Henry and Donelson, also losing at Shiloh and speculatively losing at Antietam. The Union army suffered losses at The Seven Days Battle, as well as Second Bull Run. The year had been an exhausting year for both fighting sides, and the coming winter appeared to be a harsh one.

In the winter of 1862, General Ambrose Burnside launched a winter campaign in Virginia, towards the Confederate capitol, Richmond. In Burnside’s path lay the town of Fredericksburg, located on the banks of the Rappahannock River. The Potomac Railroad cut through the town, and a small canal was built joining the northern section of the river to the town. A stream called Deep Run split off from the Rappahannock and flowed south, away from Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg was a town of rolling hills and had a centralized area where the citizens lived. The river and the town later became an important factor in the battle, indirectly resulting in a victory and a retreat.

Burnside began his campaign by concentrating his Corps near Warrenton (near 1^st Manassas) and then moving them to Culpeper Court House. Immediately after this, Burnside moved his army south, planning to move through Fredericksburg. Lincoln believed that Lee was Burnsides target, not Richmond, but approved of the plan anyway. Burnside split his Army into three Grand Divisions, or wings, believing that this would spread out his attack more. The right Grand Division was given to Sumner, while the left Grand Division was given to Franklin. The Center Grand Division was given to Joseph Hooker. Burnside disliked Hooker, because he had accused Ambrose of breaking up his own wing at Antietam. With dividing the army out of his way, Burnside began his march.

Burnside began his march, and in 60 hours Sumner’s troops had covered the 40 miles to Falmouth, located on the Rappahannock (opposite of Fredericksburg). General Lee was not in sight, and he did not learn of Sumner’s march until a day after they arrived. This proved to be too late for Lee to take action. Then Burnside’s entire army followed suit and marched to Stafford Heights, opposite the river from the town. Burnsides army was now situated across the Rappahannock, and crossing it was a task that brought much concern to the Union Army.

Burnside attempted to tackle this obstacle by ordering a train of pontoons from the Military Department, instead of fording the river. The pontoons failed to arrive on time, creating a problem for the Yankees. Sumner asked Burnside to move upriver and cross, but Burnside refused and decided to wait for the pontoons. The pontoons arrived a week later than expected, wasting valuable time, allowing General Lee to begin preparations.

Lee arrived late on the 21^st of November, days after the arrival of the Union troops. Once in place, Lee ordered Longstreet to dig the long ridge behind the city, in preparation of the Federals when crossing. As Lee prepared for the federal crossing, the federals prepared to cross the river themselves. Once the pontoons arrived on the 24^th of November, Burnside waited 17 days before putting his plans in motion. During this time of waiting, Burnside began to formulate somewhat of a strategy. Burnside planned to send on Grand Division down river to Skinker’s Neck, to cross and move up against Lee’s flank at Fredericksburg. Burnsides plan received little enthusiasm from his fellow officers, so he soon abandoned it. While Burnside pondered over how to attack, General Lee began to create a strategy that would be a showcase of his military expertise.

As soon as Robert E. Lee settled in, he began strategizing in hopes of victory. Lee decided to scatter his divisions widely, expecting Burnside would cross upstream or downstream to take his flank. All of Lee’s positioning was designed to protect against a downstream Yankee crossing. Lee placed Stonewall Jackson on the right with D.H. Hill’s division far downstream. Jubal Early’s troops were placed at Skinker’s Neck and A.P. Hill’s forces were sent three miles from Longstreet's flank, six miles from the town. Lee also placed William Taliaferro miles beyond A.P. Hill. Total confederate forces prepared to fight at Fredericksburg amounted to 90,000, which was the largest army that Lee would field. Burnside however, did not have as complex a strategy as Lee. He proposed to cross directly in the front of the town, which obviously used minimal logic. Burnside’s artillery could command the entire city from their position on Stafford Heights, and Burnside believed that this action would take Lee by surprise. Burnside’s ignorant beliefs about General Lee would show to be wrong as soon as federal engineers stepped into the cold waters of the Rappahannock.

When General Ambrose Burnside finally made the decision to cross the river, he proposed to run 3 sets of bridges. The uppermost crossing was at the northern edge of Fredericksburg, the next below the mouth of the Deep Run Stream. The last bridge crossing was planned to take place a mile downstream at the cities southern edge. This plan received criticism from other officers. Sumner’s officers told Burnside that moving across the river and then moving to face Lee’s troops was considered suicide.

In addition to the lack of intelligence in the plan, Burnside’s orders were vague. Burnside refined his plans and then told the generals where to go. Franklin was to bridge the river and cross, moving west to take the roads connecting Lee with the Confederate capitol. Burnside gave no specific instructions on fighting, neither where to fight nor how to execute the assault did the Union commander explain. Basically he left it to the Generals to decide, giving no “coordinating influence.” Once again Burnside blundered, it was not the first mistake he had made, and it was not his last.

On December 10^th, 1862, Federal engineers moved pontoons and needed equipment during the night to the river. General McLaws of the Confederacy sounded the alarm to his troops around 4:30 a.m. on the 11^th of December, warning his troops of the crossing Yankees. This alarm set up one of the largest battles ever in the Western Hemisphere, over 200,000 men were at arms.

Early on the 11^th of December fog set in on the Rappahannock, aiding the engineers, sparing them momentarily from Confederate fire. The fog did not hold long. Engineers continued to build the bridges unarmed under heavy Confederate fire from McLaw’s sharpshooters. This bridge building effort went for almost an hour with no progress but heavy casualties. Even though Sumner’s artillery bombarded the sharpshooters, it did not aid in the bridge construction. Eventually, a Union officer decided to use the pontoons as boats to transfer troops across the river while the engineers completed the bridges. Regiments volunteered and almost without casualty they succeeded in crossing. After the first regiments crossed, the crossing carried on with a wave of more regiments. This action allowed the engineers to complete their work. Specifically it worked in the middle bridge and in the upper bridges with Sumner. Since Lee did not expect a crossing near Deep Run, Franklin’s troops crossed with no trouble. These men could have pushed forward and become a threat to Lee, but since they had no specific orders from Burnside, Franklin protected his bridgehead and waited for Sumner to cross. In all, the crossing of the Rappahannock was very time consuming. The attempt took almost the entire day, and when night came upon the fighting men, Confederate troops fell back and left the town to Burnside. In total, only 1,600 Confederate troops held Burnside from crossing for an entire day. The first day was over, and the two sides settled in and started preparation for the days ahead.

As soon as a brigade of Union troops crossed the Rappahannock into Fredericksburg, Burnside ordered the rest of the army to remain across the river for the night. The next day, the remainder of the Union troops crossed the bridges into the city. Once crossed, Burnside began formulating a new strategy, seeing that his old strategy had not succeeded well. General Burnside gave Franklin the duty of leading the largest section of the army. Franklin’s orders were to march around Hamilton’s Crossing and gain control of a Confederate military road. Once Franklin began his march, Sumner was to proceed to Marye’s Heights on Lee’s left. Burnside had a plan, but once they entered the city of Fredericksburg, his troops showed no order, beginning a frenzied ransack on the city. Troops began innocently looking for “mementos” turned into a destruction of they city. Looters from the Union army destroyed every home or business in the town. The looting began to get out of control, so Burnside called his chief Marshal to maintain order. The Marshal ended the rampage on the town, taking platoons of prisoners and criminal offenders with him. Once the looting was out of the way, the Federal army faced an even greater dilemma. The task of keeping the town and not losing to the Confederacy lay before them.

On the night of the 12^th, around 3 a.m., Burnside ordered Franklin to move out. The orders given to Franklin the morning that Fredericksburg had been taken were extremely vague, perplexing the Union officer. They directly said, “ After your command has crossed, you will move down the Old Richmond Road, in the direction of the railroad, being governed by circumstances as to the extent of your movements.” Burnside told Franklin to move around 4 p.m., which Franklin diligently did. His grand division was moved across the river, then all but one brigade was ordered back to wait until the morning of the next day.

While Burnside and the Union army sat in the town pondering over what to do, Lee began thinking of an even better strategy. Lee decided not to attack in the direction of Franklin, he felt safe with Franklin as his only threat to that part of his forces. Lee hoped to have Longstreet and Jackson close in on Franklin. After nightfall, he started moving troops for the upcoming battle, bringing in Taliaferro and A.P. Hill to add to Longstreet’s right wing. Lee began to march, soon relocating most of his forces to the high ground, taking advantage of Burnside’s tardiness. He moved Early and D.H. Hill to new locations, hence increasing Stonewall Jackson’s line to over two miles in length. Jackson moved to a wooded crest almost two miles back of the river. Stuart’s cavalry protected the right of Jackson, while Hill held the left; D.H. Hill was positioned on the right (Taliaferro was in reserve). Once again Lee’s troops took advantage of Burnside’s tardiness, settling in before Burnside, giving the union the obstacle of leading a full frontal assault.

Burnside was beginning to live up to his reputation for being a horrible general, already blundering many times before the majority of fighting occurred. Until early morning on the 13^th of December, Burnside had not informed his officers of their orders. This gave them no time to prepare; also contradicting his plans discussed the day before. Burnside’s new plans were completely different from his previous strategy, yet they seemed no more thought out than the first. Burnside ordered Sumner to use a single division to march into Longstreet’s troops and seize Marye’s Heights. Franklin was ordered, with more than 50,000 troops, to use only a single division to seize Prospect Hill. Once again all officers were left wondering about Burnside’s military expertise, months later Burnside stated that he wanted Franklin to seize the heights above Hamilton’s crossing. In addition to being a bad plan strategically, Burnside underestimated the Rebel forces. He made no attempt to watch the movements of the enemy, believing that “a large force of the enemy is concentrated near Port Royal, its left resting near Fredericksburg.” Actually, D.H. Hill’s troops came to Hamilton’s Crossing after a march from Port Royal. Early’s Division had come from Skinker’s Neck. Once again these two movements gave support to Jackson’s division. The Confederate army began to seem more and more powerful.

Although the Rebels seemingly gained power, a weak spot in A.P. Hill’s line did appear. A 600-yard gap, approximately twenty percent of the line appeared in the front. Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg’s South Carolina Brigade was posted above the unprotected gap. Gregg did not realize that his brigade was the only line of defense behind this gap. General Lane told Gregg that he must defend the space in front, but Gregg, being partially deaf, did not hear him. On the morning of December 13^th, Gregg ordered his men above the gap to gather themselves and prepare to fight.

On the morning of the third day General Meade’s Pennsylvania Reserve Division led, supported by General Gibbon’s division on the right. He was supported on the left by Major General Abner Doubleday’s division. After marching down the Rappahannock, they crossed the Old Richmond Road and prepared to fight, gathering in a line formation. On the Rebel side of the army, 39,000 men were under Jackson’s command. The army laid four and five brigades deep along the final mile and a half of the ridge, which J.E.B. Stuart kept toward the Massaponax, including two brigades of cavalry. The fog held until approximately 10 a.m., when the fog lifted the whole grand division was shown to the Confederates. A rebel soldier stated, “A slight but dazzling snow beneath, and a brilliant sun above, intensified the leaping reflections from fifty thousand gleaming bayonets.” (J.H. Moore) “Officers on restless horses rushed from point to point in gay uniforms. Field artillery was whisked into position as so many fragile toys. Rank and file, foot and

horse, small arms and field ordinance presented so magnificent a pageant as to call forth the unbounded admiration of their adversaries.” Almost immediately after Meade begins his advance, shells fall in the union ranks, on the left and the rear. Two field guns were taken down a country lane to its Old Richmond Road intersection to fire closely at Federals, suggested by Major John Pelham, approved by Stuart. The two guns were: A Blakely rifle and a 12-pounder Napoleon. Once in place, rebels opened fire with solid shot on the troops. This fire caused the lead federal brigade to halt. Soon after the fire began, the Blakely was disabled the 12-pounder Napoleon was left. Stuart sent a message to Pelham that he could feel free to withdraw. Pelham replied, “Tell the General I can hold my ground.” Meade’s advance continued, pushing closer to the confederate troops.

Meade struck at A.P. Hill's six hundred yard gap, pushing deep into the Confederate lines without much resistance. The third brigade crossed behind Archer’s, taking Georgians and Tennesseeans along the way. Meade’s brigade troubled Lane’s North Carolinians as they pressed on. On the Confederate side, Maxcy Gregg’s five South Carolina regiments lay one of Burnside’s military roads. Yankees began to launch furious fire, scattering Gregg’s first regiment, causing the rest of his men searching for weapons. (Weapons had been stacked, avoiding the possibility of an accidental volley.) Survivors of this rebel brigade rallied, two confederate divisions came to assist. (One was Stonewall Jackson’s division at First Bull Run, seven months before.) After the rally, a Georgian brigade attacked Meade’s right hand regiments. It appeared then that Meade’s courageous attack was dissolving. Artillery on Prospect Hill had damaged Meade’s third, and six Georgian and Virginian regiments attacked Meade’s left. Meade made a last attempt to lead an assault, directing General Conrad F. Jackson uphill to capture artillery and capture the troops. Jackson was killed as the movement began, and troops failed to advance any further once their leader was wounded. General Franklin never sent Doubleday’s troops to assist Meade’s assault, indirectly causing it to fail. Gibbons division made no progress on the right, facing three of Lane’s regiments. Finally, the inevitable came for Meade and his men, troops began running out of ammunition, while Rebel numbers kept increasing. The attack was beginning to lean towards the Confederacy.

Quickly after, David Birney’s Third Corps brigade came to cover the retreat, attempting to hold Meade’s fugitives. A rebel attack then shattered the line, taking companies of Meade’s lagging troops, who were stopped by Birney’s First Corps artillery. While this disastrous attack was happening, Franklin had been giving positive information to Burnside concerning the assault. Burnside therefore assumed Lee had swung his strength to the southern portion of his line. Excited by the good news, Burnside launched Sumner’s attack, on Marye’s Heights.

Marye’s Heights was located on a hilly region of the northern end of the town. General Longstreet positioned himself on the Heights, before noon he ordered troops to drop shells into the streets of the town, hoping that it would aid Jackson. French skirmishers began coming toward Longstreet’s men, followed closely by thick brigades. Troops that were camped out in Fredericksburg under General Sumner’s command began a march towards the heights.

After these troops finished crossing, ditch shells began to fall in the ranks, taking the lives of many. French formed his first brigade and ordered 2,000 men to attack, with bayonets fixed. Bombarded with heavy fire, the Federals pushed forward towards a stone wall before the heights without pausing to fire back. The movement of the Federals was slow, due to heavy coats, equipment as well as muddy terrain. In the next hours, French’s men would lead yet another devastating assault for the Yankee forces.

Back at command, Burnside assumed French’s obstacles were not too great. He believed that artillery on the heights, and unprotected second lines of infantry were the greatest obstacles. Burnside did not consider the hundreds of riflemen in the Sunken road a problem for the Union men. While Burnside believed he had found the problem, French’s men had a completely different perspective. Once French’s men crossed into fire range, they were met with Confederate rifles. Continuous volleys forced his men back from their advance; already one quarter of his troops had fallen. Those who had not fallen lay on the ground firing at the smoke that lay before them. It seemed to the Federals that all was hopeless, another assault was falling apart. A last attempt to reorganize the troops by Kimball failed, and French’s men were forced to retreat and end their attack.

For the remainder of the day, Union men tried to regain the Heights, yet every attempt failed. General Winfield Scott Hancock led an assault on the Heights with the Irish brigade after French’s attack. This failed; the men were once again forced to retreat from their position. Soon General Ambrose Burnside ordered General Franklin to attack Jackson, and Hooker to attack Marye’s Heights again. It seemed as if Burnside was becoming desperate.

Union officers at Fredericksburg began to see Burnsides last try at the city, with the ordering of Franklin and Hooker to attack. Franklin did not want to attack Jackson again, so he waited for Hooker to take action. Hooker moved into Fredericksburg, in order to meet with Union leader Couch. He wanted the attack to be called off, doubting the Heights could be taken. Burnside then stubbornly ordered hooker to return to the attack, expecting Franklin to follow. Burnside thought wrong.

Although Franklin’s men did not go, Hooker’s did. Andrew A. Humphreys led the last assault of the battle of Fredericksburg; following orders to push against the infamous stonewall. Humphreys was leading an assault against an army led by a man whom he had attended West Point with, Robert E. Lee. Humphreys commanded two Pennsylvania brigades, neither of which had seen action yet. The two brigades marched towards the stonewall where they would attack the Confederate side. This attack failed; instead they were pushed directly to the front. With much effort, Humphreys led a bayonet charge while bullets still harassed the soldiers. Unfortunately, the charge failed and the unwounded men took cover. Joe Hooker said, “No campaign in the world ever saw a more gallant advance than Humphrey’s men made there.” It seemed that even though the Union men would lose the battle, they would not go out as cowards.

It was looking grim for the Union army. The shadow of defeat was already darkening their hopes. It seemed now that the only thing left to do was pick up the dead and wounded and go. Yet, Burnside had one more plan. Burnside planned to lead his men from the Ninth Corps against the wall himself, hoping they would follow him enthusiastically. Once again, leaders doubted his plan would prevail. Even so, Burnside called a conference the next day, only to receive criticism. With almost nowhere to turn, Burnside desperately thought of a way to not destroy the morale of his troops. He decided that if the town was held, the men’s morale would not die. Because of criticism, Burnside abandoned his final idea. When one looks back, people might say that Burnside never accomplished anything because of pressure from his lower officers. Whatever the case, Ambrose Burnside knew that he would no longer be in Command of the Army of the Potomac.

On the morning of the 14^th, the fighting had subdued, almost completely ending. On Marye’s Heights, the wounded Union men lay without water, without food, only with the noise of occasional Confederate fire. Richard Kirkland, a Southern officer, crossed the wall with canteens of water. With this movement, fire ceased, and Kirkland began giving water to the dying men on the field. With tears in his eyes, on the night of the 15^th Burnside ordered his army to leave Fredericksburg, leaving all they had fought for on the bloody field. Artillery crossed first, followed by infantry. By 4 a.m. Franklins troops had crossed and the engineers began taking apart the bridges. Last came the guards, bringing any latecomers. The battle was over, and the Confederacy had won.

Once the battle was over, the town was alone. It lay in ruins, every house had been shot and looted, and many had been destroyed completely. Once the Federals crossed, Confederate troops began stripping the bodies of the Union soldiers for any salvageable materials. Over the next days, 918 bodies would be counted; only 5 could be identified as officers. Besides having an effect on the town, the battle had a great effect on the fighting armies. 12,653 men of the Union army had been killed at Fredericksburg, more than 60 percent had been killed near the stonewall. This was more than McClellan had lost at Antietam, the Civil War’s bloodiest battle. Less than 5,400 Confederate men were killed. The battle demoralized the Union soldiers, yet Sumner convinced Burnside not to resign. Newspapers criticized the Union leaders; Burnside took full responsibility to the battle. Even so, Burnside carried on. He planned a winter campaign, but Lincoln ordered to not carry out his orders, denying his plans. Burnside then went to Washington to dismiss 8 officers, including Hooker, Franklin, and Smith. Lincoln then dismissed Burnside, on January 25^th, 1863. Burnside then gave his command to the man whom he least wanted to: Joe Hooker. Burnsides career as command of the Army of the Potomac was finally over.

Life would move on, as always. Hooker would fail, forcing his Army back to Falmouth Camp. He soon would be replaced; General Grant would take over the Union army and lead them to victory. Lee would march on to Gettysburg, finding more trouble than the Union faced at Fredericksburg. Back in Fredericksburg citizens began to come back and start their lives over again. Life would go on.