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Battle of Fredericksburg

March 14, 2023

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee, included futile frontal attacks by the Union army on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders along the Sunken Wall on the heights behind the city. It is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles of the war, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates. A visitor to the battlefield described the battle as a "butchery" to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

Battle of Fredericksburg
Part of the American Civil War

Battle of Fredericksburg by Kurz and Allison
DateDecember 11–15, 1862
Location
Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, Virginia
38°17′58″N 77°28′14″W / 38.2995°N 77.4705°W / 38.2995; -77.4705Coordinates: 38°17′58″N 77°28′14″W / 38.2995°N 77.4705°W / 38.2995; -77.4705
Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Union) Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Ambrose Burnside Robert E. Lee
Units involved
Army of the Potomac[1] Army of Northern Virginia[2]
Strength

122,009[3][4]

114,000 engaged (estimated)[5][6]

78,513[7]

72,500 engaged (estimated)[8]
Casualties and losses
12,653
1,284 killed
9,600 wounded
1,769 captured/missing[9][10]
 5,377
608 killed
4,116 wounded
653 captured/missing[11][12]

Burnside's plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee's army could stop him. Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings. When the Union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire, direct combat within the city resulted on December 11–12. Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye's Heights.

On December 13, the Left Grand Division of Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of Confederate Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson to the south, but was finally repulsed. Burnside ordered the Right and Center Grand Divisions of major generals Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to launch multiple frontal assaults against Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights – all were repulsed with heavy losses. On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater.

Background

Military situation

 
Virginia, 1862
Further information: Peninsula Campaign, Seven Days Battles, Northern Virginia campaign, Maryland campaign, Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, and American Civil War

In November 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln needed to demonstrate the success of the Union war effort before the Northern public lost confidence in his administration. Confederate armies had been on the move earlier in the fall, invading Kentucky and Maryland. Although each had been turned back, those armies remained intact and capable of further action. Lincoln urged Major General Ulysses S. Grant to advance against the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He replaced Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell with Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, hoping for a more aggressive posture against the Confederates in Tennessee, and on November 5, seeing that his replacement of Buell had not stimulated Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan into action, he issued orders to replace McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia. McClellan had stopped General Robert E. Lee's forces at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, but had not been able to destroy Lee's army, nor did he pursue Lee back into Virginia aggressively enough for Lincoln.[13]

McClellan's replacement was Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, the commander of the IX Corps. Burnside had established a reputation as an independent commander, with successful operations earlier that year in coastal North Carolina and, unlike McClellan, had no apparent political ambitions. However, he felt himself unqualified for army-level command and objected when offered the position. He accepted only when it was made clear to him that McClellan would be replaced in any event and that an alternative choice for command was Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, whom Burnside disliked and distrusted. Burnside assumed command on November 7.[14]

Burnside's plan

In response to prodding from Lincoln and general-in-chief Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, Burnside planned a late fall offensive; he communicated his plan to Halleck on November 9. The plan relied on quick movement and deception. He would concentrate his army in a visible fashion near Warrenton, feigning a movement on Culpeper Court House, Orange Court House or Gordonsville. He would then rapidly shift his army southeast and cross the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, hoping that Lee would not move, unclear as to Burnside's intentions, while the Union Army made a rapid movement against Richmond, south along the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P) from Fredericksburg. Burnside selected this plan because he was concerned that if he were to move directly south from Warrenton, he would be exposed to a flanking attack from Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, whose corps was at that time in the Shenandoah Valley south of Winchester. He also believed that the Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) would be an inadequate supply line. (Burnside was also influenced by plans McClellan began developing just prior to being relieved. Aware that Lee had blocked the O&A, McClellan considered a route through Fredericksburg and ordered a small group of cavalrymen commanded by Captain Ulric Dahlgren to investigate the condition of the RF&P.) While Burnside began assembling a supply base at Falmouth, near Fredericksburg, the Lincoln administration undertook a lengthy debate about the wisdom of his plan, which differed from the president's preference of a movement south on the O&A and a direct confrontation with Lee's army instead of the movement focused on the city of Richmond. Lincoln reluctantly approved the plan on November 14 but cautioned his general to move with great speed, certainly doubting that Lee would react as Burnside anticipated.[15]

Movement to battle

 
Initial movements in the Fredericksburg campaign
  Confederate
  Union
 
Fredericksburg campaign, situation November 19, 1862 and movements since October 10

The Union Army began marching on November 15, and the first elements arrived in Falmouth on November 17. Burnside's plan quickly went awry—he had ordered pontoon bridges to be sent to the front and assembled for his quick crossing of the Rappahannock, but because of administrative bungling, the bridges did not arrive on time. Burnside first requisitioned the pontoon bridging (along with many other provisions) on November 7 when he detailed his plan to Halleck. The plan was sent to the attention of Brig. Gen. George Washington Cullum, the chief of staff in Washington (received on November 9). Plans called for both riverine and overland movement of the pontoon trains to Falmouth. On November 14, the 50th New York Engineers reported the pontoons were ready to move, except for a lack of the 270 horses needed to move them. Unknown to Burnside, most of the bridging was still on the upper Potomac. Communications between Burnside's staff engineer Cyrus B. Comstock and the Engineer Brigade commander Daniel P. Woodbury indicate that Burnside had assumed the bridging was en route to Washington based on orders given on November 6.[16]

 
Skinkers Neck on the Rappanhannock below Fredericksburg, VA, 1862 sketch by Alfred Waud

As Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner arrived, he strongly urged an immediate crossing of the river to scatter the token Confederate force of 500 men in the town and occupying the commanding heights to the west. Burnside became anxious, concerned that the increasing autumn rains would make the fording points unusable and that Sumner might be cut off and destroyed, ordering Sumner to wait in Falmouth.[17]

Lee at first anticipated that Burnside would beat him across the Rappahannock and that to protect Richmond, he would assume the next defensible position to the south, the North Anna River. But when he saw how slowly Burnside was moving (and Confederate President Jefferson Davis expressed reservations about planning for a battle so close to Richmond), he directed all of his army toward Fredericksburg. By November 23, the corps commanded by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet had arrived and Lee placed them on the ridge known as Marye's Heights to the west of town, with Anderson's division on the far left, McLaws's directly behind the town, and Pickett's and Hood's to the right. He sent for Jackson on November 26, but his Second Corps commander had anticipated the need and began forced-marching his troops from Winchester on November 22, covering as many as 20 miles a day. Jackson arrived at Lee's headquarters on November 29 and his divisions were deployed to prevent Burnside crossing downstream from Fredericksburg: D.H. Hill's division moved to Port Royal, 18 miles down river; Early's 12 miles down river at Skinker's Neck; A.P. Hill's at Thomas Yerby's house, "Belvoir", about 6 miles southeast of town; and Taliaferro's along the RF&P Railroad, 4 miles south at Guinea Station.[18]

The boats and equipment for a single pontoon bridge arrived at Falmouth on November 25, much too late to enable the Army of the Potomac to cross the river without opposition. Burnside still had an opportunity, however, because by then he was facing only half of Lee's army, not yet dug in, and if he acted quickly, he might have been able to attack Longstreet and defeat him before Jackson arrived. Once again he squandered his opportunity. The full complement of bridges arrived at the end of the month, but by this time Jackson was present and Longstreet was preparing strong defenses.[19]

Burnside originally planned to cross his army east of Fredericksburg at Skinker's Neck, but an advance movement by Federal gunboats to there was fired upon and drew Early's and D.H. Hill's divisions into that area, a movement spotted by Union balloon observers. Now assuming that Lee had anticipated his plan, Burnside guessed that the Confederates had weakened their left and center to concentrate against him on their right. So he decided to cross directly at Fredericksburg. On December 9, he wrote to Halleck, "I think now the enemy will be more surprised by a crossing immediately in our front than any other part of the river. ... I'm convinced that a large force of the enemy is now concentrated at Port Royal, its left resting on Fredericksburg, which we hope to turn." In addition to his numerical advantage in troop strength, Burnside also had the advantage of knowing his army could not be attacked effectively. On the other side of the Rappahannock, 220 artillery pieces had been located on the ridge known as Stafford Heights to prevent Lee's army from mounting any major counterattacks.[20]

Opposing forces

Union

Further information: Union order of battle
Key commanders (Army of the Potomac)

Burnside organized his Army of the Potomac into three so-called grand divisions, organizations that included infantry corps, cavalry, and artillery, comprising 120,000 men, of whom 114,000 would be engaged in the coming battle:[4][6]

Confederate

Further information: Confederate order of battle
Key Commanders (Army of Northern Virginia)

Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had nearly 79,000 men,[7] with 72,500[8] engaged. His organization of the army in corps was approved by an act of the Confederate Congress on November 6, 1862, and consisted of:

The two armies at Fredericksburg represented the largest number of armed men that ever confronted each other for combat during the Civil War.[22]

Battle

Crossing the Rappahannock, December 11–12

  •  

    Union Army pontoon boats mobilized for deployment

  •  

    Model of a portion of the pontoon bridge built for the film Gods and Generals, displayed at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

  •  

    Pontoon bridges at Franklin's Crossing

  •  

    Barksdale's Mississippi brigade fires at the Union engineers

Union engineers began to assemble six pontoon bridges before dawn on December 11, two just north of the town center, a third on the southern end of town, and three farther south, near the confluence of the Rappahannock and Deep Run. The engineers constructing the bridge directly across from the city came under punishing fire from Confederate sharpshooters, primarily from the Mississippi brigade of Brig. Gen. William Barksdale, in command of the town defenses. Union artillery attempted to dislodge the sharpshooters, but their positions in the cellars of houses rendered the fire from 150 guns mostly ineffective. Eventually Burnside's artillery commander, Brig. Gen. Henry J. Hunt, convinced him to send infantry landing parties over in the pontoon boats to secure a small bridgehead and rout the sharpshooters. Col. Norman J. Hall volunteered his brigade for this assignment. Burnside suddenly turned reluctant, lamenting to Hall in front of his men that "the effort meant death to most of those who should undertake the voyage." When his men responded to Hall's request with three cheers, Burnside relented. At 3:00 p.m., the Union artillery began a preparatory bombardment and 135 infantrymen from the 7th Michigan and the 19th Massachusetts crowded into the small boats, and the 20th Massachusetts followed soon after. They crossed successfully and spread out in a skirmish line to clear the sharpshooters. Although some of the Confederates surrendered, fighting proceeded street by street through the town as the engineers completed the bridges. Sumner's Right Grand Division began crossing at 4:30 p.m., but the bulk of his men did not cross until December 12. Hooker's Center Grand Division crossed on December 13, using both the northern and southern bridges.[23]

The clearing of the city buildings by Sumner's infantry and by artillery fire from across the river began the first major urban combat of both the war and American history. Union gunners sent more than 5,000 shells against the town and the ridges to the west. By nightfall, four brigades of Union troops occupied the town, which they looted with a fury that had not been seen in the war up to that point. This behavior enraged Lee, who compared their depredations with those of the ancient Vandals. The destruction also angered the Confederate troops, many of whom were native Virginians. Many on the Union side were also shocked by the destruction inflicted on Fredericksburg. Civilian casualties were unusually low given the widespread violence; George Rable estimates no more than four civilian deaths.[24]

River crossings south of the city by Franklin's Left Grand Division were much less eventful. Both bridges were completed by 11:00 a.m. on December 11 while five batteries of Union artillery suppressed most sniper fire against the engineers. Franklin was ordered at 4:00 p.m. to cross his entire command, but only a single brigade was sent out before dark. Crossings resumed at dawn and were completed by 1:00 p.m. on December 12. Early on December 13, Jackson recalled his divisions under Jubal Early and D.H. Hill from down river positions to join his main defensive lines south of the city.[25]

Burnside's verbal instructions on December 12 outlined a main attack by Franklin, supported by Hooker, on the southern flank, while Sumner made a secondary attack on the northern flank. His actual orders on December 13 were vague and confusing to his subordinates. At 5:00 p.m. on December 12, he made a cursory inspection of the southern flank, where Franklin and his subordinates pressed him to give definite orders for a morning attack by the grand division, so they would have adequate time to position their forces overnight. However, Burnside demurred and the order did not reach Franklin until 7:15 or 7:45 a.m. When it arrived, it was not as Franklin expected. Rather than ordering an attack by the entire grand division of almost 60,000 men, Franklin was to keep his men in position, but was to send "a division at least" to seize the high ground (Prospect Hill) around Hamilton's Crossing, Sumner was to send one division through the city and up Telegraph Road, and both flanks were to be prepared to commit their entire commands. Burnside was apparently expecting these weak attacks to intimidate Lee, causing him to withdraw. Franklin, who had originally advocated a vigorous assault, chose to interpret Burnside's order very conservatively. Brig. Gen. James A. Hardie, who delivered the order, did not ensure that Burnside's intentions were understood by Franklin, and map inaccuracies about the road network made those intentions unclear. Furthermore, Burnside's choice of the verb "to seize" was less forceful in 19th century military terminology than an order "to carry" the heights.[26]

South of the city, December 13

 
Overview of the battle, December 13, 1862

December 13 began cold and overcast. A dense fog blanketed the ground and made it impossible for the armies to see each other. Franklin ordered his I Corps commander, Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, to select a division for the attack. Reynolds chose his smallest division, about 4,500 men commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, and assigned Brig. Gen. John Gibbon's division to support Meade's attack. His reserve division, under Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday, was to face south and protect the left flank between the Richmond Road and the river. Meade's division began moving out at 8:30 a.m., with Gibbon following behind. At around 10:30 a.m., the fog started lifting. They moved parallel to the river initially, turning right to face the Richmond Road, where they began to be struck by enfilading fire from the Virginia Horse Artillery under Major John Pelham. Pelham started with two cannons—a 12-pounder Napoleon smoothbore and a rifled Blakely—but continued with only one after the latter was disabled by counter-battery fire. "Jeb" Stuart sent word to Pelham that he should feel free to withdraw from his dangerous position at any time, to which Pelham responded, "Tell the General I can hold my ground." The Iron Brigade (formerly Gibbon's command, but now led by Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith) was sent out to deal with the Confederate horse artillery. This action was mainly conducted by the 24th Michigan Infantry, a newly enlisted regiment that had joined the brigade in October. After about an hour, Pelham's ammunition began to run low and he withdrew. General Lee observed the action and commented about Pelham, age 24, "It is glorious to see such courage in one so young." The most prominent victim of Pelham's fire was Brig. Gen. George D. Bayard, a cavalry general mortally wounded by a shell while standing in reserve near Franklin's headquarters. Jackson's main artillery batteries had remained silent in the fog during this exchange, but the Union troops soon began to receive direct fire from Prospect Hill, principally five batteries directed by Lt. Col. Reuben Lindsay Walker, and Meade's attack was stalled about 600 yards from his initial objective for almost two hours by these combined artillery attacks.[27]

The Union artillery fire was lifted as Meade's men moved forward around 1:00 p.m. Jackson's force of about 35,000 remained concealed on the wooded ridge to Meade's front. His formidable defensive line had an unforeseen flaw. In A.P. Hill's division's line, a triangular patch of the woods that extended beyond the railroad was swampy and covered with thick underbrush and the Confederates had left a 600-yard gap there between the brigades of Brig. Gens. James H. Lane and James J. Archer. Brig. Gen. Maxcy Gregg's brigade stood about a quarter mile behind the gap. Meade's 1st Brigade (Col. William Sinclair) entered the gap, climbed the railroad embankment, and turned right into the underbrush, striking Lane's brigade in the flank. Following immediately behind, his 3rd Brigade (Brig. Gen. Feger Jackson) turned left and hit Archer's flank. The 2nd Brigade (Col. Albert L. Magilton) came up in support and intermixed with the leading brigades. As the gap widened with pressure on the flanks, thousands of Meade's men reached the top of the ridge and ran into Gregg's brigade. Many of these Confederates had stacked arms while taking cover from Union artillery and were not expecting to be attacked at that moment, so were killed or captured unarmed. Gregg at first mistook the Union soldiers for fleeing Confederate troops and ordered his men not to fire on them. While he rode prominently in front of his lines, the partially deaf Gregg could not hear the approaching Federals or their bullets flying around him. In the confusion, a bullet struck his spine and fatally wounded him; he died two days later. Col. Daniel Hamilton of the 1st South Carolina assumed command, but Gregg's brigade was totally routed and was no longer an organized unit for the rest of the day. Archer meanwhile was being pressed hard on his left flank and sent word for Gregg to reinforce him, unaware that he had been shot and his brigade had disintegrated. The 19th Georgia's flag was captured by the adjutant of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves; it was the only Confederate regimental flag captured and retained by the Army of the Potomac in the battle.[28] The Georgians broke and ran. The 14th Tennessee resisted the onslaught for a time before also breaking; a sizable number of its men were taken prisoner. Archer frantically sent messages to the rear, calling on John Brockenbrough and Edmund Atkinson's brigades for help. With ammunition on both sides running low, hand-to-hand fighting ensued with soldiers stabbing at each other with bayonets and using muskets as clubs. Most of the regimental officers on both sides went down as well; on the Confederate side, the 1st Tennessee went through three commanders in a matter of minutes. Meade's 15 regiments also lost most of their officers, although Meade himself survived the battle unscathed despite having been exposed to heavy artillery fire.[29]

Confederate reserves—the divisions of Brig. Gens. Jubal A. Early and William B. Taliaferro—moved into the fray from behind Gregg's original position. Inspired by their attack, regiments from Lane's and Archer's brigades rallied and formed a new defensive line in the gap. Now Meade's men were receiving fire from three sides and could not withstand the pressure. Feger Jackson attempted to flank a Confederate battery, but after his horse was shot and he began to lead on foot, he was shot in the head by a volley and his brigade fell back, leaderless (Col. Joseph W. Fisher soon replaced Jackson in command).[30]

Additional maps
  •  

    Overview of the battle, December 13, 1862 (additional map 1)

  •  

    Overview of the battle, December 13, 1862 (additional map 2)

To Meade's right, Gibbon's division prepared to move forward at 1:00 p.m. Brig. Gen. Nelson Taylor proposed to Gibbon that they supplement Meade's assault with a bayonet charge against Lane's position. However, Gibbon stated that this would violate his orders, so Taylor's brigade did not move forward until 1:30 p.m. The attack did not have the benefit of a gap to exploit, nor did the Union soldiers have any wooded cover for their advance, so progress was slow under heavy fire from Lane's brigade and Confederate artillery. Immediately following Taylor was the brigade of Col. Peter Lyle, and the advance of the two brigades ground to a halt before they reached the railroad. Committing his reserve at 1:45 p.m., Gibbon sent forward his brigade under Col. Adrian R. Root, which moved through the survivors of the first two brigades, but they were soon brought to a halt as well. Eventually some of the Federals reached the crest of the ridge and had some success during hand-to-hand fighting—men on both sides had depleted their ammunition and resorted to bayonets and rifle butts, and even empty rifles with bayonets thrown like javelins—but they were forced to withdraw back across the railroad embankment along with Meade's men to their left. Gibbon's attack, despite heavy casualties, had failed to support Meade's temporary breakthrough and Gibbon himself was wounded when a shell fragment struck his right hand. Brig. Gen Nelson Taylor took over command of the division.[31]

My God, General Reynolds, did they think my division could whip Lee's whole army?

—Maj. Gen. George G. Meade to Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, afternoon of December 13[32]

It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.

—Gen. Robert E. Lee, watching the carnage of the Confederate counterattack from the center of his line, a position now known as Lee's Hill[33]

After the battle Meade complained that some of Gibbon's officers had not charged quickly enough. But his primary frustration was with Brig. Gen. David B. Birney, whose division of the III Corps had been designated to support the attack as well. Birney claimed that his men had been subjected to damaging artillery fire as they formed up, that he had not understood the importance of Meade's attack, and that Reynolds had not ordered his division forward. When Meade galloped to the rear to confront Birney with a string of fierce profanities that, in the words of one staff lieutenant, "almost makes the stones creep," he was finally able to order the brigadier forward under his own responsibility, but harbored resentment for weeks. By this time, however, it was too late to accomplish any further offensive action.[34]

 
Part of Franklin's "Left Grand Division" charges across the railroad

Early's division began a counterattack, led initially by Col. Edmund N. Atkinson's Georgia brigade, which inspired the men from the brigades of Col. Robert Hoke, Brig. Gen. Archer, and Col. John M. Brockenbrough to charge forward out of the railroad ditches, driving Meade's men from the woods in a disorderly retreat, followed closely by Gibbon's. Early's orders to his brigades were to pursue as far as the railroad, but in the chaos many kept up the pressure over the open fields as far as the old Richmond Road. Union artillery crews proceeded to unleash a blast of close-range canister shot, firing as fast as they could load their guns. The Confederates were also struck by the leading brigade of Birney's belated advance, commanded by Brig. Gen. J. H. Hobart Ward. Birney followed up with the brigades of Brig. Gens. Hiram G. Berry and John C. Robinson, which broke the Rebel advance that had threatened to drive the Union into the river. Col. Atkinson was struck in the shoulder by canister shot and abandoned by his own brigade; Union soldiers later found and took him prisoner. Any further Confederate advance was deterred by the arrival of the III Corps division of Brig. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles on the right. General Burnside, who by this time was focused on his attacks on Marye's Heights, was dismayed that his left flank attack had not achieved the success he assumed earlier in the day. He ordered Franklin to "advance his right and front," but despite repeated entreaties, Franklin refused, claiming that all of his forces had been engaged. This was not true, however, as the entire VI Corps and Brig. Gen. Doubleday's division of the I Corps had been mostly idle, suffering only a few casualties from artillery fire while they waited in reserve.[35]

The Confederates withdrew back to the safety of the hills south of town. Stonewall Jackson considered mounting a resumed counterattack, but the Federal artillery and impending darkness changed his mind. A fortuitous Union breakthrough had been wasted because Franklin did not reinforce Meade's success with some of the 20,000 men standing in reserve. Neither Franklin nor Reynolds took any personal involvement in the battle, and were unavailable to their subordinates at the critical point. Franklin's losses were about 5,000 casualties in comparison to Stonewall Jackson's 3,400, demonstrating the ferocity of the fighting. Skirmishing and artillery duels continued until dark, but no additional major attacks took place, while the center of the battle moved north to Marye's Heights. Brig. Gen George D. Bayard, who commanded a cavalry brigade in the VI Corps, was struck in the leg by a shell fragment and died two days later.[36]

As the fighting south of Fredericksburg died down, the air was filled with the screams of hundreds of wounded men and horses. Dry sage grass around them caught fire and burned many men alive.[37]

Marye's Heights, December 13

 
Attack on the Rebel Works, 1862 sketch by Alfred Waud
 
Sumner's assault, 1:00 p.m., December 13, 1862. The sequence of Union division attacks was French (II Corps), Hancock (II), Howard (II), and Sturgis (IX).
 
Hooker's assault, 3:30 p.m., December 13, 1862. The sequence of Union division attacks was Griffin (V Corps), Humphreys (V), and Getty (IX).

On the northern end of the battlefield, Brig. Gen. William H. French's division of the II Corps prepared to move forward, subjected to Confederate artillery fire that was descending on the fog-covered city of Fredericksburg. General Burnside's orders to Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, commander of the Right Grand Division, was to send "a division or more" to seize the high ground to the west of the city, assuming that his assault on the southern end of the Confederate line would be the decisive action of the battle. The avenue of approach was difficult—mostly open fields, but interrupted by scattered houses, fences, and gardens that would restrict the movement of battle lines. A canal stood about 200 yards west of the town, crossed by three narrow bridges, which would require the Union troops to funnel themselves into columns before proceeding. About 600 yards to the west of Fredericksburg was the low ridge known as Marye's Heights, rising 40–50 feet above the plain. (Although popularly known as Marye's Heights, the ridge was composed of several hills separated by ravines, from north to south: Taylor's Hill, Stansbury Hill, Marye's Hill, and Willis Hill.) Near the crest of the portion of the ridge comprising Marye's Hill and Willis Hill, a narrow lane in a slight cut—the Telegraph Road, known after the battle as the Sunken Road—was protected by a 4-foot stone wall, enhanced in places with log breastworks and abatis, making it a perfect infantry defensive position. Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws initially had about 2,000 men on the front line of Marye's Heights and there were an additional 7,000 men in reserve on the crest and behind the ridge. Massed artillery provided almost uninterrupted coverage of the plain below. General Longstreet had been assured by his artillery commander, Lt. Col. Edward Porter Alexander, "General, we cover that ground now so well that we will comb it as with a fine-tooth comb. A chicken could not live on that field when we open on it."[38]

 
The Confederate troops behind the stone wall

The fog lifted from the town around 10 a.m. and Sumner gave his order to advance an hour later. French's brigade under Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball began to move around noon. They advanced slowly through heavy artillery fire, crossed the canal in columns over the narrow bridges, and formed in line, with fixed bayonets, behind the protection of a shallow bluff. In perfect line of battle, they advanced up the muddy slope until they were cut down at about 125 yards from the stone wall by repeated rifle volleys. Some soldiers were able to get as close as 40 yards, but having suffered severe casualties from both the artillery and infantry fire, the survivors clung to the ground. Kimball was severely wounded during the assault, and his brigade suffered 25% casualties. French's brigades under Col. John W. Andrews and Col. Oliver H. Palmer followed, with casualty rates of almost 50%.[39]

Sumner's original order called for the division of Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock to support French and Hancock sent forward his brigade under Col. Samuel K. Zook behind Palmer's. They met a similar fate. Next was his Irish Brigade under Brig. Gen. Thomas F. Meagher who, equipped with outdated Springfield Muskets, could not deliver an effective volley until within a hundred yards of the enemy. Of the 1200 Irishmen who made the charge, 545 would not return from the blood soaked heights. Hancock's final brigade was led by Brig. Gen. John C. Caldwell. Leading his two regiments on the left, Col. Nelson A. Miles suggested to Caldwell that the practice of marching in formation, firing, and stopping to reload, made the Union soldiers easy targets, and that a concerted bayonet charge might be effective in carrying the works. Caldwell denied permission. Miles was struck by a bullet in the throat as he led his men to within 40 yards of the wall, where they were pinned down as their predecessors had been. Caldwell himself was soon struck by two bullets and put out of action.[40]

The commander of the II Corps, Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couch, was dismayed at the carnage wrought upon his two divisions in the hour of fighting and, like Col. Miles, realized that the tactics were not working. He first considered a massive bayonet charge to overwhelm the defenders, but as he surveyed the front, he quickly realized that French's and Hancock's divisions were in no shape to move forward again. He next planned for his final division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, to swing to the right and attempt to envelop the Confederate left, but upon receiving urgent requests for help from French and Hancock, he sent Howard's men over and around the fallen troops instead. The brigade of Col. Joshua Owen went in first, reinforced by Col. Norman J. Hall's brigade, and then two regiments of Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully's brigade. The other corps in Sumner's Right Grand Division was the IX Corps, and he sent in one of its divisions under Brig. Gen. Samuel Sturgis. After two hours of desperate fighting, four Union divisions had failed in the mission Burnside had originally assigned to one. Casualties were heavy: II Corps losses for the afternoon were 4,114, Sturgis's division 1,011.[41]

 
The sunken road at Marye's Heights in 2010. Approximately 3,000 Georgians under Thomas R. R. Cobb were lined up in multiple ranks behind the stone wall, and another 3,000 were atop the slope behind it, along with their artillery.
 
Genl. Humphreys charging at the head of his division after sunset of Dec 13, 1862 sketch by Alfred Waud

While the Union Army paused, Longstreet reinforced his line so that there were four ranks of infantrymen behind the stone wall. Brig. Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb of Georgia, who had commanded the key sector of the line, was mortally wounded by an exploding artillery shell and was replaced by Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw. General Lee expressed concerns to Longstreet about the massing troops breaking his line, but Longstreet assured his commander, "General, if you put every man on the other side of the Potomac on that field to approach me over the same line, and give me plenty of ammunition, I will kill them all before they reach my line."[42]

By mid-afternoon, Burnside had failed on both flanks to make progress against the Confederates. Rather than reconsidering his approach in the face of heavy casualties, he stubbornly decided to continue on the same path. He sent orders to Franklin to renew the assault on the left (which, as described earlier, the Left Grand Division commander ignored) and ordered his Center Grand Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Hooker, to cross the Rappahannock into Fredericksburg and continue the attack on Marye's Heights. Hooker performed a personal reconnaissance (something that neither Burnside nor Sumner had done, both remaining east of the river during the failed assaults) and returned to Burnside's headquarters to advise against the attack.[43]

Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, commanding Hooker's V Corps, while waiting for Hooker to return from his conference with Burnside, sent his division under Brig. Gen. Charles Griffin to relieve Sturgis's men. By this time, Maj. Gen. George Pickett's Confederate division and one of Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood's brigades had marched north to reinforce Marye's Heights. Griffin smashed his three brigades against the Confederate position, one by one. Also concerned about Sturgis, Couch sent the six guns of Capt. John G. Hazard's Battery B, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, to within 150 yards of the Confederate line. They were hit hard by Confederate sharpshooter and artillery fire and provided no effective relief to Sturgis.[44]

A soldier in Hancock's division reported movement in the Confederate line that led some to believe that the enemy might be retreating. Despite the unlikeliness of this supposition, the V Corps division of Brig. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys was ordered to attack and capitalize on the situation. Humphreys led his first brigade on horseback, with his men moving over and around fallen troops with fixed bayonets and unloaded rifles; some of the fallen men clutched at the passing pant legs, urging their comrades not to go forward, causing the brigade to become disorganized in their advance. The charge reached to within 50 yards before being cut down by concentrated rifle fire. Brig. Gen. George Sykes was ordered to move forward with his V Corps regular army division to support Humphreys's retreat, but his men were caught in a crossfire and pinned down.[45]

By 4:00 p.m., Hooker had returned from his meeting with Burnside, having failed to convince the commanding general to abandon the attacks. While Humphreys was still attacking, Hooker reluctantly ordered the IX Corps division of Brig. Gen. George W. Getty to attack as well, but this time to the leftmost portion of Marye's Heights, Willis Hill. Col. Rush Hawkins's brigade, followed by Col. Edward Harland's brigade, moved along an unfinished railroad line just north of Hazel Run, approaching close to the Confederate line without detection in the gathering twilight, but they were eventually detected, fired on, and repulsed.[46]

Seven Union divisions had been sent in, generally one brigade at a time, for a total of fourteen individual charges,[47] all of which failed, costing them from 6,000 to 8,000 casualties.[48] Confederate losses at Marye's Heights totaled around 1,200.[49] The falling of darkness and the pleas of Burnside's subordinates were enough to put an end to the attacks. Longstreet later wrote, "The charges had been desperate and bloody, but utterly hopeless."[50] Thousands of Union soldiers spent the cold December night on the fields leading to the heights, unable to move or assist the wounded because of Confederate fire. That night, Burnside attempted to blame his subordinates for the disastrous attacks, but they argued that it was entirely his fault and no one else's.[51]

Lull and withdrawal, December 14–15

 
Here is the only known instance in which the Union photographers succeeded in getting a near view of the Confederate troops. Mathew Brady's photo shows the other bank of Rappahannock after General Lee allowed Federal troops to collect bodies of fallen soldiers.[52]

During a dinner meeting the evening of December 13, Burnside dramatically announced that he would personally lead his old IX Corps in one final attack on Marye's Heights, but his generals talked him out of it the following morning. The armies remained in position throughout the day on December 14. That afternoon, Burnside asked Lee for a truce to attend to his wounded, which the latter granted. The next day the Federal forces retreated across the river, and the campaign came to an end.[53]

Testament to the extent of the carnage and suffering during the battle was the story of Richard Rowland Kirkland, a Confederate Army sergeant with Company G, 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Stationed at the stone wall by the sunken road below Marye's Heights, Kirkland had a close up view to the suffering and like so many others was appalled at the cries for help of the Union wounded throughout the cold winter night of December 13, 1862. After obtaining permission from his commander, Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw, Kirkland gathered canteens and in broad daylight, without the benefit of a cease fire or a flag of truce (refused by Kershaw), provided water to numerous Union wounded lying on the field of battle. Union soldiers held their fire as it was obvious what Kirkland's intent was. Kirkland was nicknamed the "Angel of Marye's Heights" for these actions, and is memorialized with a statue by Felix de Weldon on the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park where he carried out his actions.[54] Details of this story (first recorded in 1880) conflict with multiple after-action reports and may have been embellished and personalized for effect.[55]

On the night of December 14, the Aurora Borealis made an appearance unusual for that latitude, presumably caused by a large solar flare. One witness described that "the wonderful spectacle of the Aurora Borealis was seen in the Gulf States. The whole sky was a ruddy glow as if from an enormous conflagration, but marked by the darting rays peculiar to the Northern light." The event was noted in the diaries and letters of many soldiers at Fredericksburg, such as John W. Thompson, Jr., who wrote "Louisiana sent those famous cosmopolitan Zouaves called the Louisiana Tigers, and there were Florida troops who, undismayed in fire, stampeded the night after Fredericksburg, when the Aurora Borealis snapped and crackled over that field of the frozen dead hard by the Rappahannock ..."[56]

Aftermath

  •  

    Western view from Fredericksburg down Telegraph Road with Marye's Heights visible in the distant center

  •  

    Marye's House upon Marye's Heights was the center of the Confederate position during the battle. Confederate troop encampments are visible to the right

  •  

    Burnside's headquarters at Phillips House during the battle

  •  

    Sumner's headquarters, Chatham Manor, on Stafford Heights; Burnside observed the battle primarily from this location

Casualties

Senior officer casualties

The Union army suffered 12,653 casualties (1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded, 1,769 captured/missing).[10][57] Two Union generals were mortally wounded: Brig. Gens. George D. Bayard and Conrad F. Jackson. The Confederate army lost 5,377 (608 killed, 4,116 wounded, 653 captured/missing),[12][58] most of them in the early fighting on Jackson's front. Confederate Brig. Gens. Maxcy Gregg and T. R. R. Cobb were both mortally wounded. The casualties sustained by each army showed clearly how disastrous the Union army's tactics were. Although the fighting on the southern flank produced roughly equal casualties (about 4,000 Confederate, 5,000 Union), the northern flank was completely lopsided, with about eight Union casualties for each Confederate. Burnside's men had suffered considerably more in the attack originally meant as a diversion than in his main effort.[59]

Confederate reaction to the news of the victory

The South erupted in jubilation over its great victory. The Richmond Examiner described it as a "stunning defeat to the invader, a splendid victory to the defender of the sacred soil." General Lee, normally reserved, was described by the Charleston Mercury as "jubilant, almost off-balance, and seemingly desirous of embracing everyone who calls on him." The newspaper also exclaimed, "General Lee knows his business and the army has yet known no such word as fail."[60]

Lee himself was not as pleased as the rest of the South. He later wrote, "At Fredericksburg we gained a battle, inflicting very severe loss on the enemy in men and material; our people were greatly elated—I was much depressed. We had really accomplished nothing; we had not gained a foot of ground, and I knew the enemy could easily replace the men he had lost, and the loss of material was, if anything, rather beneficial to him, as it gave an opportunity to contractors to make money."[61]

Effect on the Union

Reactions were opposite in the North, and both the Army and President Lincoln came under strong attacks from politicians and the press. The Cincinnati Commercial noted, "It can hardly be in human nature for men to show more valor or generals to manifest less judgment, than were perceptible on our side that day." Senator Zachariah Chandler, a Radical Republican, wrote, "The President is a weak man, too weak for the occasion, and those fool or traitor generals are wasting time and yet more precious blood in indecisive battles and delays." Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited the White House after a trip to the battlefield. He told the president, "It was not a battle, it was a butchery."[62] Curtin reported that the president was "heart-broken at the recital, and soon reached a state of nervous excitement bordering on insanity." Lincoln himself wrote, "If there is a worse place than hell, I am in it."[62] Burnside was relieved of command a month later, after an attempt to purge some of his subordinates from the Army and the humiliating failure of his "Mud March" in January.[63]

Battlefield preservation

 
Civil War Trust President Jim Lighthizer at Slaughter Pen Farm
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park
 
A piece of artillery forming part of "Longstreet's Line" on Marye's Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg
Area4,601.1 acres (1,862 ha)
NRHP reference No.66000046[64]
VLR No.111-0147
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated VLRJanuary 16, 1973[65]
Main article: Preservation efforts of the Fredericksburg battlefield

The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park was established in 1927 under the War Department and transferred to the National Park Service in 1933.[66] It consists of more than 8,300 acres that cover parts of four Civil War battlefields – Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Court House, The Wilderness and Chancellorsville.[67]

In March 2003, the Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) announced the beginning of a $12 million national campaign to preserve the historic Slaughter Pen Farm, a key part of the Fredericksburg battlefield. The 208-acre (0.84 km2) farm, known locally as the Pierson Tract, was the scene of bloody struggle on December 13, 1862. Over this ground Federal troops under Maj. Gen. George Meade and Brig. Gen. John Gibbon launched their assault against Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's Confederates holding the southern portion of the Army of Northern Virginia's line at Fredericksburg. Despite suffering enormous casualties the Federal troops under Meade were able to temporarily penetrate the Confederate line and for a time represented the North's best chance of winning the Battle of Fredericksburg. The fighting on this southern portion of the battlefield, later named the Slaughter Pen, produced 5,000 casualties and five Medal of Honor recipients.[68]

The Slaughter Pen Farm was considered to be the largest remaining unprotected part of the Fredericksburg battlefield. It is also the only place on the battlefield where a visitor can still follow the Union assault of December 13 from beginning to end. Nearly all the other land associated with Union attacks at Fredericksburg—either on the southern end of the battlefield or in front of Marye's Heights—has been degraded by development. The $12 million acquisition of the Slaughter Pen Farm at the Fredericksburg battlefield has been called the most ambitious nonprofit battlefield acquisition in American history.[69]

In October 2006, the Department of the Interior awarded a $2 million grant based on the significance of the Slaughter Pen Farm. The money was provided through a U.S. Congressional appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund supports non-federal efforts to acquire and preserve meaningful American Civil War battlefield lands. The program is administered by the American Battlefield Protection Program, an arm of the National Park Service. In addition, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT) committed $1 million toward the Slaughter Pen Farm fundraising campaign.[70]

In addition to the preservation of the Slaughter Pen Farm, the American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved an additional 51 acres (0.21 km2) of the battlefield in more than five other acquisitions.[71]

In November 2012, during archaeological investigations at the construction site for a new courthouse, remains of Union artifacts were recovered. These included ammunition, smoking pipes, and food tins.[72]

In popular culture

  • American heavy metal band Iced Earth wrote a song inspired by the battle, titled "Clear The Way (December 13th, 1862)", and included it in their 2017 album Incorruptible.[75]
  • A reenactment of the battle by robotic soldiers serves as a tourist attraction in the novel Logan's Run.[76]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXI, pages 48–61.
  2. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume XXI, Part 1, pages 538–545.
  3. ^ 120,281 ("present for duty" in 3 grand divisions and engineers) according to Livermore, p. 96.
  4. ^ a b XI Corps at Fairfax Court-House; XII Corps at Harper's Ferry.
    Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXI, page 1121.
  5. ^ 113,897 (deduct cavalry of Right and Centre Grand Divisions) according to Livermore, p. 96.
  6. ^ a b Eicher, pp. 396–97; O'Reilly, p. 21; Welcher, pp. 700–701.
  7. ^ a b Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXI, page 1057.
  8. ^ a b Livermore, p.96; Eicher, p. 397; O'Reilly, p. 10.
  9. ^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXI, page 142.
  10. ^ a b Eicher, p. 405.
  11. ^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXI, pages 558–562.
  12. ^ a b 5,377 (608 killed; 4,116 wounded; 653 captured/missing) according to Eicher, p. 405. Foote, p. 44, claims that this number was later acknowledged to be 4,201, based on over 1,000 men who had been considered wounded or missing returning from Christmas holidays with their families immediately after the battle. Goolrick, p. 779, agrees with this figure.
  13. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 4–6.
  14. ^ Esposito, text to map 71; Marvel, pp. 159–61; O'Reilly, pp. 1–2.
  15. ^ Eicher, p. 396; O'Reilly,– pp. 14–23; Welcher, p. 700; Marvel, pp. 164–65.
  16. ^ Official Records, Series I, Vol. XIX, Part II, p. 552–81
  17. ^ Rable, pp. 81–82; O'Reilly, pp. 25–32; Eicher, p. 397; Welcher, p. 700; Kennedy, p. 145; Salmon, p. 145.
  18. ^ Goolrick, p. 39; O'Reilly, pp. 33–43; Eicher, p. 397; Welcher, pp. 701–702.
  19. ^ Eicher, p. 398; Center for Military History, p. 1; Marvel. p. 168.
  20. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 51–52; Eicher, p. 398; Goolrick, pp. 39–40; Esposito, map 72; Marvel, pp. 169–70.
  21. ^ Kennedy, p. 144; Welcher, p. 701.
  22. ^ Goolrick, p. 39; O'Reilly, p. 7.
  23. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 67–85; Goolrick, pp. 50–52; Esposito, map 72; Welcher, pp. 703–704.
  24. ^ Rable, pp. 166–67, 177–89; O'Reilly, pp. 57–126; Eicher, pp. 398–99; Goolrick, pp. 53–58.
  25. ^ Welcher, pp. 703–704; Center for Military History, p. 3.
  26. ^ Eicher, pp. 399–400; Goolrick, pp. 60–61; Marvel, pp. 180–87; Center for Military History, pp. 2–3; Kennedy, p. 145; O'Reilly, p. 137. To "seize" was typically ordered for positions not occupied by a significant enemy force.
  27. ^ Rable, pp. 191–203; O'Reilly, pp. 135–65; Goolrick, pp. 63–65; Eicher, p. 400; Salmon, p. 163.
  28. ^ O'Reilly, p. 211
  29. ^ Goolrick, pp. 65–67; Rable, pp. 193–94, 205–14; O'Reilly, pp. 166–77; Salmon, pp. 163–64.
  30. ^ Welcher, pp. 706–707; Rable, pp. 204–17; Goolrick, p. 67.
  31. ^ Rable, pp. 211–14; O'Reilly, pp. 187–97; Goolrick, pp. 67–70; Welcher, pp. 706–707.
  32. ^ Rable, p. 216.
  33. ^ Gallagher, p. vii, discusses the exact wording of Lee's famous quotation. John Esten Cooke, a member of Jeb Stuart's staff, wrote that Lee told Longstreet, "It is well this is so terrible! we should grow too fond of it!" The quotation as it is generally remembered today was reported by Edward Porter Alexander in his Military Memoirs of a Confederate (p. 302) and popularized by Douglas Southall Freeman in his 1934–35 biography, R.E. Lee (vol. 2, p. 462). Gallagher remarks that Longstreet made no mention of this quotation in any of his postwar writings. Eicher, p. 403, attributes this remark to Lee in the context of the Marye's Heights front.
  34. ^ Rable, pp. 214–17; Welcher, p. 707.
  35. ^ Rable, pp. 244–52; Goolrick, p. 71; O'Reilly, pp. 198–245.
  36. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 187–245, 499; Goolrick, p. 71; Welcher, p. 708; Rable, pp. 211–17.
  37. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 244–245
  38. ^ Welcher, pp. 708–709; Goolrick, pp. 72–73; Rable, pp. 219–20; O'Reilly, pp. 249–50.
  39. ^ Rable, pp. 218–28; O'Reilly, pp. 246–73; Goolrick, pp. 73–77; Welcher, pp. 709–10.
  40. ^ Welcher, p. 710; O'Reilly, pp. 273–323; Rable, pp. 228–36; Goolrick, pp. 77–79.
  41. ^ Goolrick, pp. 80–84; Welcher, p. 710; O'Reilly, pp. 324–54; Rable, pp. 237–43.
  42. ^ Goolrick, p. 84; O'Reilly, pp. 324–54. Smith, pp. 97–98, describes conflicting stories about the nature of Cobb's wound. The sniper version is sourced to Kershaw. Rable, p. 228, and Eicher, p. 401, claim it was a shrapnel wound. The National Park Service's Stephens House Marker, located on the Fredericksburg Battlefield at the location where General Cobb was killed, says his death was the result of a Union artillery shell that passed through the house and he was killed when the shell exploded.
  43. ^ O'Reilly, p. 363; Eicher, p. 403; Goolrick, p. 85; Rable, p. 254; Marvel, pp. 192–93.
  44. ^ Rable, pp. 256–59; Goolrick, p. 85; Welcher, p. 711; O'Reilly, pp. 363–88.
  45. ^ Goolrick, pp. 85–86; Rable, pp. 260–64; Welcher, p. 712.
  46. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 390–429; Rable, pp. 264–66; Welcher, p. 712; Goolrick, p. 87.
  47. ^ Esposito, text for map 73. The divisions were French (II Corps), Hancock (II), Howard (II), Sturgis (IX), Griffin (V), Humphreys (V), and Getty (IX).
  48. ^ Historians differ in reporting Union casualties in the Marye's Heights sector. Esposito, in notes for map 73, cites "over 6,000." Goolrick, p. 87, cites 7,000. Gallagher, p. 23, "nearly 8,000." All other references list total battle casualties.
  49. ^ Goolrick, pp. 83, 87.
  50. ^ Goolrick, p. 87.
  51. ^ Marvel, pp. 203–207.
  52. ^ The Photographic History of the Civil War, 1911, p. 27.
  53. ^ Rable, pp. 269–272; Eicher, p. 403; Marvel, pp. 196–200; Goolrick, pp. 89–91.
  54. ^ O'Reilly, p. 439; Rable, p. 273.
  55. ^ Michael Schaffner. December 22, 2009. Civil War Memory. Is the Richard Kirkland Story True?
  56. ^ "Space Weather effect [sic] and Their Hazards".
  57. ^ Return of casualties in the Union forces commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, U.S. Army, at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 11–15, 1862: Official Records, Part 1. I. Vol. XXI. pp. 129–145.
  58. ^ List of killed and wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., transmitted by Medical Director Lafayette Guild, January 10, 1863: Official Records, Part 1. I. Vol. XXI. pp. 558–562.
  59. ^ O'Reilly, p. 499.
  60. ^ Goolrick, p. 92.
  61. ^ Rafuse, Ethan S. (January 15, 2015). "Gettysburg: Lee Moves North Measuring Performance and Effectiveness". Center for Leadership and Change Management. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  62. ^ a b Goolrick, pp. 92–93.
  63. ^ O'Reilly, pp. 467–91.
  64. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  65. ^ . Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  66. ^ Zenzen, Joan M. (August 2011). "At the Crossroads of Preservation and Development: A History of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park" (PDF). National Park Service. p. 38. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  67. ^ "Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved October 13, 2021. Mailing Address: 120 Chatham Ln, Fredericksburg, VA 22405 Phone: 540-693-3200
  68. ^ "Horror and Heroism at the Slaughter Pen Farm". Civil War Trust. December 8, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  69. ^ [1] "Saving Fredericksburg's Slaughter Pen Farm." American Battlefield Trust feature. Accessed May 29, 2018.
  70. ^ [2] Fredericksburg, Va., Free Lance-Star, June 7, 2012, "Fredericksburg park chief, Central Virginia Battlefield Trust, Virginia officials recognized by Civil War Trust." Accessed May 29, 2018.
  71. ^ [3] American Battlefield Trust "Saved Land" webpage. Accessed November 29, 2021.
  72. ^ Emery, Theo (November 11, 2012). "Construction Site Offers Fleeting Glimpse of the Civil War Past". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  73. ^ Feis, William B. "Review: Gods and Generals". The Society for Military History. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  74. ^ Cooper, Joseph H. (October 17, 2013). "What Louisa May Alcott's 'Hospital Sketches' reminds us about military hospitals". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  75. ^ "Clear The Way (December 13th, 1862)" by Iced Earth on the official Century Media Label channel on YouTube [4]
  76. ^ Nolan, William F. (1967). "Chapter 8". Logan's run (1995 ed.). Cutchogue, N.Y.: Buccaneer Books. pp. 103–104. ISBN 0899668968. Union artillery batteries were destroying Fredericksburg when Logan and Jess reached ground level.Snipers had fired on the Federal troops preparing to cross the Rappahannock River, and General Burnside had ordered his cannon to level the town. ... Ambrose E. Burnside was a robot, an android, built to the exact specifications of the famed Civil War officer ... Logan and Jess edged into the pack of excited tourists and Virginia citizenry crowding the view areas.

Bibliography

Secondary sources
  • Alexander, Edward P. Military Memoirs of a Confederate: A Critical Narrative. New York: Da Capo Press, 1993. ISBN 0-306-80509-X. First published 1907 by Charles Scribner's Sons.
  • Center of Military History. Fredericksburg Staff Ride: Briefing Book January 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History, 2002. OCLC 50210530.
  • Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
  • Esposito, Vincent J. West Point Atlas of American Wars. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959. OCLC 5890637. The collection of maps (without explanatory text) is available online at the .
  • Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol. 2, Fredericksburg to Meridian. New York: Random House, 1958. ISBN 0-394-49517-9.
  • Freeman, Douglas S. R. E. Lee, A Biography. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934–35. OCLC 166632575.
  • Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The Fredericksburg Campaign: Decision on the Rappahannock. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8078-2193-4.
  • Goolrick, William K., and the Editors of Time-Life Books. Rebels Resurgent: Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8094-4748-7.
  • Kennedy, Frances H., ed. The Civil War Battlefield Guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998. ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
  • Marvel, William. Burnside. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8078-1983-2.
  • O'Reilly, Francis Augustín. The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8071-3154-7.
  • Rable, George C. Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8078-2673-1.
  • Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. ISBN 0-8117-2868-4.
  • Smith, Derek. The Gallant Dead: Union & Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005. ISBN 0-8117-0132-8.
  • Tucker, Spencer C. "First Battle of Fredericksburg." In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-393-04758-X.
  • Welcher, Frank J. The Union Army, 1861–1865 Organization and Operations. Vol. 1, The Eastern Theater. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-253-36453-1.
  • National Park Service Stephens House Marker
Memoirs and primary sources
  • Livermore, Thomas L., Number and losses in the civil war in America 1861–65. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1901.
  • Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. ISBN 0-306-80464-6. First published in 1896 by J. B. Lippincott and Co.
  • Tidball, John C. The Artillery Service in the War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Westholme Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1594161490.
  • U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series 1, Vol. XXI, Part 1, and Vol. XIX, Part II, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

Further reading

  • Catton, Bruce. Mr. Lincoln's Army. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1951. ISBN 0-385-04310-4.
  • Evans, Clement A., ed. Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History. 12 vols. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899. OCLC 833588.
  • Glatthaar, Joseph T. General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse. New York: Free Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-684-82787-2.
  • Hattaway, Herman, and Archer Jones. How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. ISBN 0-252-00918-5.
  • Mackowski, Chris, and Kristopher D. White. Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2012. ISBN 978-1-61121-146-7.
  • Matteson, John. A Worse Place Than Hell: How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2021. ISBN 9780393247077.
  • Schultz, Duane P. The Fate of War: Fredericksburg, 1862. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1-59416-145-2.
  • Wert, Jeffry D. The Sword of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-2506-6.

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March 14, 2023
battle, fredericksburg, fought, december, 1862, around, fredericksburg, virginia, eastern, theater, american, civil, combat, between, union, army, potomac, commanded, ambrose, burnside, confederate, army, northern, virginia, under, robert, included, futile, fr. The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11 15 1862 in and around Fredericksburg Virginia in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War The combat between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen Robert E Lee included futile frontal attacks by the Union army on December 13 against entrenched Confederate defenders along the Sunken Wall on the heights behind the city It is remembered as one of the most one sided battles of the war with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates A visitor to the battlefield described the battle as a butchery to U S President Abraham Lincoln Battle of FredericksburgPart of the American Civil WarBattle of Fredericksburg by Kurz and AllisonDateDecember 11 15 1862LocationSpotsylvania County and Fredericksburg Virginia38 17 58 N 77 28 14 W 38 2995 N 77 4705 W 38 2995 77 4705 Coordinates 38 17 58 N 77 28 14 W 38 2995 N 77 4705 W 38 2995 77 4705ResultConfederate victoryBelligerentsUnited States Union Confederate StatesCommanders and leadersAmbrose BurnsideRobert E LeeUnits involvedArmy of the Potomac 1 Army of Northern Virginia 2 Strength122 009 3 4 114 000 engaged estimated 5 6 78 513 7 72 500 engaged estimated 8 Casualties and losses12 653 1 284 killed9 600 wounded1 769 captured missing 9 10 5 377 608 killed4 116 wounded653 captured missing 11 12 Burnside s plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee s army could stop him Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings When the Union army was finally able to build its bridges and cross under fire direct combat within the city resulted on December 11 12 Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on a strongly fortified ridge just west of the city known as Marye s Heights On December 13 the Left Grand Division of Maj Gen William B Franklin was able to pierce the first defensive line of Confederate Lt Gen Stonewall Jackson to the south but was finally repulsed Burnside ordered the Right and Center Grand Divisions of major generals Edwin V Sumner and Joseph Hooker to launch multiple frontal assaults against Lt Gen James Longstreet s position on Marye s Heights all were repulsed with heavy losses On December 15 Burnside withdrew his army ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater Contents 1 Background 1 1 Military situation 1 2 Burnside s plan 1 3 Movement to battle 2 Opposing forces 2 1 Union 2 2 Confederate 3 Battle 3 1 Crossing the Rappahannock December 11 12 3 2 South of the city December 13 3 3 Marye s Heights December 13 3 4 Lull and withdrawal December 14 15 4 Aftermath 4 1 Casualties 4 2 Confederate reaction to the news of the victory 4 3 Effect on the Union 5 Battlefield preservation 6 In popular culture 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksBackground EditMilitary situation Edit Virginia 1862 Further information Peninsula Campaign Seven Days Battles Northern Virginia campaign Maryland campaign Eastern Theater of the American Civil War and American Civil War In November 1862 U S President Abraham Lincoln needed to demonstrate the success of the Union war effort before the Northern public lost confidence in his administration Confederate armies had been on the move earlier in the fall invading Kentucky and Maryland Although each had been turned back those armies remained intact and capable of further action Lincoln urged Major General Ulysses S Grant to advance against the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg Mississippi He replaced Maj Gen Don Carlos Buell with Maj Gen William S Rosecrans hoping for a more aggressive posture against the Confederates in Tennessee and on November 5 seeing that his replacement of Buell had not stimulated Maj Gen George B McClellan into action he issued orders to replace McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia McClellan had stopped General Robert E Lee s forces at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland but had not been able to destroy Lee s army nor did he pursue Lee back into Virginia aggressively enough for Lincoln 13 McClellan s replacement was Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside the commander of the IX Corps Burnside had established a reputation as an independent commander with successful operations earlier that year in coastal North Carolina and unlike McClellan had no apparent political ambitions However he felt himself unqualified for army level command and objected when offered the position He accepted only when it was made clear to him that McClellan would be replaced in any event and that an alternative choice for command was Maj Gen Joseph Hooker whom Burnside disliked and distrusted Burnside assumed command on November 7 14 Burnside s plan Edit In response to prodding from Lincoln and general in chief Maj Gen Henry W Halleck Burnside planned a late fall offensive he communicated his plan to Halleck on November 9 The plan relied on quick movement and deception He would concentrate his army in a visible fashion near Warrenton feigning a movement on Culpeper Court House Orange Court House or Gordonsville He would then rapidly shift his army southeast and cross the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg hoping that Lee would not move unclear as to Burnside s intentions while the Union Army made a rapid movement against Richmond south along the Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad RF amp P from Fredericksburg Burnside selected this plan because he was concerned that if he were to move directly south from Warrenton he would be exposed to a flanking attack from Lt Gen Thomas J Stonewall Jackson whose corps was at that time in the Shenandoah Valley south of Winchester He also believed that the Orange and Alexandria Railroad O amp A would be an inadequate supply line Burnside was also influenced by plans McClellan began developing just prior to being relieved Aware that Lee had blocked the O amp A McClellan considered a route through Fredericksburg and ordered a small group of cavalrymen commanded by Captain Ulric Dahlgren to investigate the condition of the RF amp P While Burnside began assembling a supply base at Falmouth near Fredericksburg the Lincoln administration undertook a lengthy debate about the wisdom of his plan which differed from the president s preference of a movement south on the O amp A and a direct confrontation with Lee s army instead of the movement focused on the city of Richmond Lincoln reluctantly approved the plan on November 14 but cautioned his general to move with great speed certainly doubting that Lee would react as Burnside anticipated 15 Movement to battle Edit Initial movements in the Fredericksburg campaign Confederate Union Fredericksburg campaign situation November 19 1862 and movements since October 10 The Union Army began marching on November 15 and the first elements arrived in Falmouth on November 17 Burnside s plan quickly went awry he had ordered pontoon bridges to be sent to the front and assembled for his quick crossing of the Rappahannock but because of administrative bungling the bridges did not arrive on time Burnside first requisitioned the pontoon bridging along with many other provisions on November 7 when he detailed his plan to Halleck The plan was sent to the attention of Brig Gen George Washington Cullum the chief of staff in Washington received on November 9 Plans called for both riverine and overland movement of the pontoon trains to Falmouth On November 14 the 50th New York Engineers reported the pontoons were ready to move except for a lack of the 270 horses needed to move them Unknown to Burnside most of the bridging was still on the upper Potomac Communications between Burnside s staff engineer Cyrus B Comstock and the Engineer Brigade commander Daniel P Woodbury indicate that Burnside had assumed the bridging was en route to Washington based on orders given on November 6 16 Skinkers Neck on the Rappanhannock below Fredericksburg VA 1862 sketch by Alfred Waud As Maj Gen Edwin V Sumner arrived he strongly urged an immediate crossing of the river to scatter the token Confederate force of 500 men in the town and occupying the commanding heights to the west Burnside became anxious concerned that the increasing autumn rains would make the fording points unusable and that Sumner might be cut off and destroyed ordering Sumner to wait in Falmouth 17 Lee at first anticipated that Burnside would beat him across the Rappahannock and that to protect Richmond he would assume the next defensible position to the south the North Anna River But when he saw how slowly Burnside was moving and Confederate President Jefferson Davis expressed reservations about planning for a battle so close to Richmond he directed all of his army toward Fredericksburg By November 23 the corps commanded by Lt Gen James Longstreet had arrived and Lee placed them on the ridge known as Marye s Heights to the west of town with Anderson s division on the far left McLaws s directly behind the town and Pickett s and Hood s to the right He sent for Jackson on November 26 but his Second Corps commander had anticipated the need and began forced marching his troops from Winchester on November 22 covering as many as 20 miles a day Jackson arrived at Lee s headquarters on November 29 and his divisions were deployed to prevent Burnside crossing downstream from Fredericksburg D H Hill s division moved to Port Royal 18 miles down river Early s 12 miles down river at Skinker s Neck A P Hill s at Thomas Yerby s house Belvoir about 6 miles southeast of town and Taliaferro s along the RF amp P Railroad 4 miles south at Guinea Station 18 The boats and equipment for a single pontoon bridge arrived at Falmouth on November 25 much too late to enable the Army of the Potomac to cross the river without opposition Burnside still had an opportunity however because by then he was facing only half of Lee s army not yet dug in and if he acted quickly he might have been able to attack Longstreet and defeat him before Jackson arrived Once again he squandered his opportunity The full complement of bridges arrived at the end of the month but by this time Jackson was present and Longstreet was preparing strong defenses 19 Burnside originally planned to cross his army east of Fredericksburg at Skinker s Neck but an advance movement by Federal gunboats to there was fired upon and drew Early s and D H Hill s divisions into that area a movement spotted by Union balloon observers Now assuming that Lee had anticipated his plan Burnside guessed that the Confederates had weakened their left and center to concentrate against him on their right So he decided to cross directly at Fredericksburg On December 9 he wrote to Halleck I think now the enemy will be more surprised by a crossing immediately in our front than any other part of the river I m convinced that a large force of the enemy is now concentrated at Port Royal its left resting on Fredericksburg which we hope to turn In addition to his numerical advantage in troop strength Burnside also had the advantage of knowing his army could not be attacked effectively On the other side of the Rappahannock 220 artillery pieces had been located on the ridge known as Stafford Heights to prevent Lee s army from mounting any major counterattacks 20 Opposing forces EditUnion Edit Further information Union order of battle Key commanders Army of the Potomac Maj Gen Ambrose Burnside Commanding Maj Gen Edwin V Sumner Right Grand Division Maj Gen Joseph Hooker Center Grand Division Maj Gen William B Franklin Left Grand Division Maj Gen Franz Sigel XI Corps Held in reserve Maj Gen Henry Warner Slocum XII Corps Held in reserveBurnside organized his Army of the Potomac into three so called grand divisions organizations that included infantry corps cavalry and artillery comprising 120 000 men of whom 114 000 would be engaged in the coming battle 4 6 The Right Grand Division commanded by Maj Gen Edwin V Bull Sumner consisted of the II Corps of Maj Gen Darius N Couch divisions of major generals Winfield S Hancock Oliver O Howard and William H French and the IX Corps of Brig Gen Orlando B Willcox divisions of brigadier generals William W Burns Samuel D Sturgis and George W Getty A cavalry division under Brig Gen Alfred Pleasonton was attached The Center Grand Division commanded by Maj Gen Joseph Hooker consisted of the III Corps of Brig Gen George Stoneman divisions of Brig Gens David B Birney Daniel E Sickles and Amiel W Whipple and the V Corps of Maj Gen Daniel Butterfield divisions of Brig Gens Charles Griffin Andrew A Humphreys and Maj Gen George Sykes A cavalry brigade under Brig Gen William W Averell was attached The Left Grand Division commanded by Maj Gen William B Franklin consisted of the I Corps of Maj Gen John F Reynolds divisions of Brig Gens Abner Doubleday and John Gibbon and Maj Gen George G Meade and the VI Corps of Maj Gen William F Baldy Smith divisions of Brig Gens William T H Brooks Albion P Howe and John Newton A cavalry brigade commanded by Brig Gen George D Bayard was attached The Reserve commanded by Maj Gen Franz Sigel of the XI Corps was in the area of Fairfax Court House The XII Corps under Maj Gen Henry W Slocum was called from Harpers Ferry to Dumfries Virginia to join the reserve force on December 9 but none of these troops participated in the battle 21 Confederate Edit Further information Confederate order of battle Key Commanders Army of Northern Virginia Gen Robert E Lee Commanding Lt Gen James Longstreet First Corps Lt Gen Stonewall Jackson Second Corps Maj Gen J E B Stuart Cav Div Brig Gen William N Pendleton Artillery ReserveRobert E Lee s Army of Northern Virginia had nearly 79 000 men 7 with 72 500 8 engaged His organization of the army in corps was approved by an act of the Confederate Congress on November 6 1862 and consisted of The First Corps of Lt Gen James Longstreet included the divisions of Maj Gens Lafayette McLaws Richard H Anderson George E Pickett and John Bell Hood and Brig Gen Robert Ransom Jr The Second Corps of Lt Gen Thomas J Stonewall Jackson included the divisions of Maj Gens D H Hill and A P Hill and Brig Gens Jubal A Early and William B Taliaferro Reserve artillery under Brig Gen William N Pendleton The cavalry division under Maj Gen J E B Stuart The two armies at Fredericksburg represented the largest number of armed men that ever confronted each other for combat during the Civil War 22 Battle EditCrossing the Rappahannock December 11 12 Edit Union Army pontoon boats mobilized for deployment Model of a portion of the pontoon bridge built for the film Gods and Generals displayed at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Pontoon bridges at Franklin s Crossing Barksdale s Mississippi brigade fires at the Union engineersUnion engineers began to assemble six pontoon bridges before dawn on December 11 two just north of the town center a third on the southern end of town and three farther south near the confluence of the Rappahannock and Deep Run The engineers constructing the bridge directly across from the city came under punishing fire from Confederate sharpshooters primarily from the Mississippi brigade of Brig Gen William Barksdale in command of the town defenses Union artillery attempted to dislodge the sharpshooters but their positions in the cellars of houses rendered the fire from 150 guns mostly ineffective Eventually Burnside s artillery commander Brig Gen Henry J Hunt convinced him to send infantry landing parties over in the pontoon boats to secure a small bridgehead and rout the sharpshooters Col Norman J Hall volunteered his brigade for this assignment Burnside suddenly turned reluctant lamenting to Hall in front of his men that the effort meant death to most of those who should undertake the voyage When his men responded to Hall s request with three cheers Burnside relented At 3 00 p m the Union artillery began a preparatory bombardment and 135 infantrymen from the 7th Michigan and the 19th Massachusetts crowded into the small boats and the 20th Massachusetts followed soon after They crossed successfully and spread out in a skirmish line to clear the sharpshooters Although some of the Confederates surrendered fighting proceeded street by street through the town as the engineers completed the bridges Sumner s Right Grand Division began crossing at 4 30 p m but the bulk of his men did not cross until December 12 Hooker s Center Grand Division crossed on December 13 using both the northern and southern bridges 23 The clearing of the city buildings by Sumner s infantry and by artillery fire from across the river began the first major urban combat of both the war and American history Union gunners sent more than 5 000 shells against the town and the ridges to the west By nightfall four brigades of Union troops occupied the town which they looted with a fury that had not been seen in the war up to that point This behavior enraged Lee who compared their depredations with those of the ancient Vandals The destruction also angered the Confederate troops many of whom were native Virginians Many on the Union side were also shocked by the destruction inflicted on Fredericksburg Civilian casualties were unusually low given the widespread violence George Rable estimates no more than four civilian deaths 24 River crossings south of the city by Franklin s Left Grand Division were much less eventful Both bridges were completed by 11 00 a m on December 11 while five batteries of Union artillery suppressed most sniper fire against the engineers Franklin was ordered at 4 00 p m to cross his entire command but only a single brigade was sent out before dark Crossings resumed at dawn and were completed by 1 00 p m on December 12 Early on December 13 Jackson recalled his divisions under Jubal Early and D H Hill from down river positions to join his main defensive lines south of the city 25 Burnside s verbal instructions on December 12 outlined a main attack by Franklin supported by Hooker on the southern flank while Sumner made a secondary attack on the northern flank His actual orders on December 13 were vague and confusing to his subordinates At 5 00 p m on December 12 he made a cursory inspection of the southern flank where Franklin and his subordinates pressed him to give definite orders for a morning attack by the grand division so they would have adequate time to position their forces overnight However Burnside demurred and the order did not reach Franklin until 7 15 or 7 45 a m When it arrived it was not as Franklin expected Rather than ordering an attack by the entire grand division of almost 60 000 men Franklin was to keep his men in position but was to send a division at least to seize the high ground Prospect Hill around Hamilton s Crossing Sumner was to send one division through the city and up Telegraph Road and both flanks were to be prepared to commit their entire commands Burnside was apparently expecting these weak attacks to intimidate Lee causing him to withdraw Franklin who had originally advocated a vigorous assault chose to interpret Burnside s order very conservatively Brig Gen James A Hardie who delivered the order did not ensure that Burnside s intentions were understood by Franklin and map inaccuracies about the road network made those intentions unclear Furthermore Burnside s choice of the verb to seize was less forceful in 19th century military terminology than an order to carry the heights 26 South of the city December 13 Edit Overview of the battle December 13 1862 December 13 began cold and overcast A dense fog blanketed the ground and made it impossible for the armies to see each other Franklin ordered his I Corps commander Maj Gen John F Reynolds to select a division for the attack Reynolds chose his smallest division about 4 500 men commanded by Maj Gen George G Meade and assigned Brig Gen John Gibbon s division to support Meade s attack His reserve division under Maj Gen Abner Doubleday was to face south and protect the left flank between the Richmond Road and the river Meade s division began moving out at 8 30 a m with Gibbon following behind At around 10 30 a m the fog started lifting They moved parallel to the river initially turning right to face the Richmond Road where they began to be struck by enfilading fire from the Virginia Horse Artillery under Major John Pelham Pelham started with two cannons a 12 pounder Napoleon smoothbore and a rifled Blakely but continued with only one after the latter was disabled by counter battery fire Jeb Stuart sent word to Pelham that he should feel free to withdraw from his dangerous position at any time to which Pelham responded Tell the General I can hold my ground The Iron Brigade formerly Gibbon s command but now led by Brig Gen Solomon Meredith was sent out to deal with the Confederate horse artillery This action was mainly conducted by the 24th Michigan Infantry a newly enlisted regiment that had joined the brigade in October After about an hour Pelham s ammunition began to run low and he withdrew General Lee observed the action and commented about Pelham age 24 It is glorious to see such courage in one so young The most prominent victim of Pelham s fire was Brig Gen George D Bayard a cavalry general mortally wounded by a shell while standing in reserve near Franklin s headquarters Jackson s main artillery batteries had remained silent in the fog during this exchange but the Union troops soon began to receive direct fire from Prospect Hill principally five batteries directed by Lt Col Reuben Lindsay Walker and Meade s attack was stalled about 600 yards from his initial objective for almost two hours by these combined artillery attacks 27 The Union artillery fire was lifted as Meade s men moved forward around 1 00 p m Jackson s force of about 35 000 remained concealed on the wooded ridge to Meade s front His formidable defensive line had an unforeseen flaw In A P Hill s division s line a triangular patch of the woods that extended beyond the railroad was swampy and covered with thick underbrush and the Confederates had left a 600 yard gap there between the brigades of Brig Gens James H Lane and James J Archer Brig Gen Maxcy Gregg s brigade stood about a quarter mile behind the gap Meade s 1st Brigade Col William Sinclair entered the gap climbed the railroad embankment and turned right into the underbrush striking Lane s brigade in the flank Following immediately behind his 3rd Brigade Brig Gen Feger Jackson turned left and hit Archer s flank The 2nd Brigade Col Albert L Magilton came up in support and intermixed with the leading brigades As the gap widened with pressure on the flanks thousands of Meade s men reached the top of the ridge and ran into Gregg s brigade Many of these Confederates had stacked arms while taking cover from Union artillery and were not expecting to be attacked at that moment so were killed or captured unarmed Gregg at first mistook the Union soldiers for fleeing Confederate troops and ordered his men not to fire on them While he rode prominently in front of his lines the partially deaf Gregg could not hear the approaching Federals or their bullets flying around him In the confusion a bullet struck his spine and fatally wounded him he died two days later Col Daniel Hamilton of the 1st South Carolina assumed command but Gregg s brigade was totally routed and was no longer an organized unit for the rest of the day Archer meanwhile was being pressed hard on his left flank and sent word for Gregg to reinforce him unaware that he had been shot and his brigade had disintegrated The 19th Georgia s flag was captured by the adjutant of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves it was the only Confederate regimental flag captured and retained by the Army of the Potomac in the battle 28 The Georgians broke and ran The 14th Tennessee resisted the onslaught for a time before also breaking a sizable number of its men were taken prisoner Archer frantically sent messages to the rear calling on John Brockenbrough and Edmund Atkinson s brigades for help With ammunition on both sides running low hand to hand fighting ensued with soldiers stabbing at each other with bayonets and using muskets as clubs Most of the regimental officers on both sides went down as well on the Confederate side the 1st Tennessee went through three commanders in a matter of minutes Meade s 15 regiments also lost most of their officers although Meade himself survived the battle unscathed despite having been exposed to heavy artillery fire 29 Confederate reserves the divisions of Brig Gens Jubal A Early and William B Taliaferro moved into the fray from behind Gregg s original position Inspired by their attack regiments from Lane s and Archer s brigades rallied and formed a new defensive line in the gap Now Meade s men were receiving fire from three sides and could not withstand the pressure Feger Jackson attempted to flank a Confederate battery but after his horse was shot and he began to lead on foot he was shot in the head by a volley and his brigade fell back leaderless Col Joseph W Fisher soon replaced Jackson in command 30 Additional maps Overview of the battle December 13 1862 additional map 1 Overview of the battle December 13 1862 additional map 2 To Meade s right Gibbon s division prepared to move forward at 1 00 p m Brig Gen Nelson Taylor proposed to Gibbon that they supplement Meade s assault with a bayonet charge against Lane s position However Gibbon stated that this would violate his orders so Taylor s brigade did not move forward until 1 30 p m The attack did not have the benefit of a gap to exploit nor did the Union soldiers have any wooded cover for their advance so progress was slow under heavy fire from Lane s brigade and Confederate artillery Immediately following Taylor was the brigade of Col Peter Lyle and the advance of the two brigades ground to a halt before they reached the railroad Committing his reserve at 1 45 p m Gibbon sent forward his brigade under Col Adrian R Root which moved through the survivors of the first two brigades but they were soon brought to a halt as well Eventually some of the Federals reached the crest of the ridge and had some success during hand to hand fighting men on both sides had depleted their ammunition and resorted to bayonets and rifle butts and even empty rifles with bayonets thrown like javelins but they were forced to withdraw back across the railroad embankment along with Meade s men to their left Gibbon s attack despite heavy casualties had failed to support Meade s temporary breakthrough and Gibbon himself was wounded when a shell fragment struck his right hand Brig Gen Nelson Taylor took over command of the division 31 My God General Reynolds did they think my division could whip Lee s whole army Maj Gen George G Meade to Maj Gen John F Reynolds afternoon of December 13 32 It is well that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it Gen Robert E Lee watching the carnage of the Confederate counterattack from the center of his line a position now known as Lee s Hill 33 After the battle Meade complained that some of Gibbon s officers had not charged quickly enough But his primary frustration was with Brig Gen David B Birney whose division of the III Corps had been designated to support the attack as well Birney claimed that his men had been subjected to damaging artillery fire as they formed up that he had not understood the importance of Meade s attack and that Reynolds had not ordered his division forward When Meade galloped to the rear to confront Birney with a string of fierce profanities that in the words of one staff lieutenant almost makes the stones creep he was finally able to order the brigadier forward under his own responsibility but harbored resentment for weeks By this time however it was too late to accomplish any further offensive action 34 Part of Franklin s Left Grand Division charges across the railroad Early s division began a counterattack led initially by Col Edmund N Atkinson s Georgia brigade which inspired the men from the brigades of Col Robert Hoke Brig Gen Archer and Col John M Brockenbrough to charge forward out of the railroad ditches driving Meade s men from the woods in a disorderly retreat followed closely by Gibbon s Early s orders to his brigades were to pursue as far as the railroad but in the chaos many kept up the pressure over the open fields as far as the old Richmond Road Union artillery crews proceeded to unleash a blast of close range canister shot firing as fast as they could load their guns The Confederates were also struck by the leading brigade of Birney s belated advance commanded by Brig Gen J H Hobart Ward Birney followed up with the brigades of Brig Gens Hiram G Berry and John C Robinson which broke the Rebel advance that had threatened to drive the Union into the river Col Atkinson was struck in the shoulder by canister shot and abandoned by his own brigade Union soldiers later found and took him prisoner Any further Confederate advance was deterred by the arrival of the III Corps division of Brig Gen Daniel E Sickles on the right General Burnside who by this time was focused on his attacks on Marye s Heights was dismayed that his left flank attack had not achieved the success he assumed earlier in the day He ordered Franklin to advance his right and front but despite repeated entreaties Franklin refused claiming that all of his forces had been engaged This was not true however as the entire VI Corps and Brig Gen Doubleday s division of the I Corps had been mostly idle suffering only a few casualties from artillery fire while they waited in reserve 35 The Confederates withdrew back to the safety of the hills south of town Stonewall Jackson considered mounting a resumed counterattack but the Federal artillery and impending darkness changed his mind A fortuitous Union breakthrough had been wasted because Franklin did not reinforce Meade s success with some of the 20 000 men standing in reserve Neither Franklin nor Reynolds took any personal involvement in the battle and were unavailable to their subordinates at the critical point Franklin s losses were about 5 000 casualties in comparison to Stonewall Jackson s 3 400 demonstrating the ferocity of the fighting Skirmishing and artillery duels continued until dark but no additional major attacks took place while the center of the battle moved north to Marye s Heights Brig Gen George D Bayard who commanded a cavalry brigade in the VI Corps was struck in the leg by a shell fragment and died two days later 36 As the fighting south of Fredericksburg died down the air was filled with the screams of hundreds of wounded men and horses Dry sage grass around them caught fire and burned many men alive 37 Marye s Heights December 13 Edit Attack on the Rebel Works 1862 sketch by Alfred Waud Sumner s assault 1 00 p m December 13 1862 The sequence of Union division attacks was French II Corps Hancock II Howard II and Sturgis IX Hooker s assault 3 30 p m December 13 1862 The sequence of Union division attacks was Griffin V Corps Humphreys V and Getty IX On the northern end of the battlefield Brig Gen William H French s division of the II Corps prepared to move forward subjected to Confederate artillery fire that was descending on the fog covered city of Fredericksburg General Burnside s orders to Maj Gen Edwin V Sumner commander of the Right Grand Division was to send a division or more to seize the high ground to the west of the city assuming that his assault on the southern end of the Confederate line would be the decisive action of the battle The avenue of approach was difficult mostly open fields but interrupted by scattered houses fences and gardens that would restrict the movement of battle lines A canal stood about 200 yards west of the town crossed by three narrow bridges which would require the Union troops to funnel themselves into columns before proceeding About 600 yards to the west of Fredericksburg was the low ridge known as Marye s Heights rising 40 50 feet above the plain Although popularly known as Marye s Heights the ridge was composed of several hills separated by ravines from north to south Taylor s Hill Stansbury Hill Marye s Hill and Willis Hill Near the crest of the portion of the ridge comprising Marye s Hill and Willis Hill a narrow lane in a slight cut the Telegraph Road known after the battle as the Sunken Road was protected by a 4 foot stone wall enhanced in places with log breastworks and abatis making it a perfect infantry defensive position Confederate Maj Gen Lafayette McLaws initially had about 2 000 men on the front line of Marye s Heights and there were an additional 7 000 men in reserve on the crest and behind the ridge Massed artillery provided almost uninterrupted coverage of the plain below General Longstreet had been assured by his artillery commander Lt Col Edward Porter Alexander General we cover that ground now so well that we will comb it as with a fine tooth comb A chicken could not live on that field when we open on it 38 The Confederate troops behind the stone wall The fog lifted from the town around 10 a m and Sumner gave his order to advance an hour later French s brigade under Brig Gen Nathan Kimball began to move around noon They advanced slowly through heavy artillery fire crossed the canal in columns over the narrow bridges and formed in line with fixed bayonets behind the protection of a shallow bluff In perfect line of battle they advanced up the muddy slope until they were cut down at about 125 yards from the stone wall by repeated rifle volleys Some soldiers were able to get as close as 40 yards but having suffered severe casualties from both the artillery and infantry fire the survivors clung to the ground Kimball was severely wounded during the assault and his brigade suffered 25 casualties French s brigades under Col John W Andrews and Col Oliver H Palmer followed with casualty rates of almost 50 39 Sumner s original order called for the division of Brig Gen Winfield S Hancock to support French and Hancock sent forward his brigade under Col Samuel K Zook behind Palmer s They met a similar fate Next was his Irish Brigade under Brig Gen Thomas F Meagher who equipped with outdated Springfield Muskets could not deliver an effective volley until within a hundred yards of the enemy Of the 1200 Irishmen who made the charge 545 would not return from the blood soaked heights Hancock s final brigade was led by Brig Gen John C Caldwell Leading his two regiments on the left Col Nelson A Miles suggested to Caldwell that the practice of marching in formation firing and stopping to reload made the Union soldiers easy targets and that a concerted bayonet charge might be effective in carrying the works Caldwell denied permission Miles was struck by a bullet in the throat as he led his men to within 40 yards of the wall where they were pinned down as their predecessors had been Caldwell himself was soon struck by two bullets and put out of action 40 The commander of the II Corps Maj Gen Darius N Couch was dismayed at the carnage wrought upon his two divisions in the hour of fighting and like Col Miles realized that the tactics were not working He first considered a massive bayonet charge to overwhelm the defenders but as he surveyed the front he quickly realized that French s and Hancock s divisions were in no shape to move forward again He next planned for his final division commanded by Maj Gen Oliver O Howard to swing to the right and attempt to envelop the Confederate left but upon receiving urgent requests for help from French and Hancock he sent Howard s men over and around the fallen troops instead The brigade of Col Joshua Owen went in first reinforced by Col Norman J Hall s brigade and then two regiments of Brig Gen Alfred Sully s brigade The other corps in Sumner s Right Grand Division was the IX Corps and he sent in one of its divisions under Brig Gen Samuel Sturgis After two hours of desperate fighting four Union divisions had failed in the mission Burnside had originally assigned to one Casualties were heavy II Corps losses for the afternoon were 4 114 Sturgis s division 1 011 41 The sunken road at Marye s Heights in 2010 Approximately 3 000 Georgians under Thomas R R Cobb were lined up in multiple ranks behind the stone wall and another 3 000 were atop the slope behind it along with their artillery Genl Humphreys charging at the head of his division after sunset of Dec 13 1862 sketch by Alfred Waud While the Union Army paused Longstreet reinforced his line so that there were four ranks of infantrymen behind the stone wall Brig Gen Thomas R R Cobb of Georgia who had commanded the key sector of the line was mortally wounded by an exploding artillery shell and was replaced by Brig Gen Joseph B Kershaw General Lee expressed concerns to Longstreet about the massing troops breaking his line but Longstreet assured his commander General if you put every man on the other side of the Potomac on that field to approach me over the same line and give me plenty of ammunition I will kill them all before they reach my line 42 By mid afternoon Burnside had failed on both flanks to make progress against the Confederates Rather than reconsidering his approach in the face of heavy casualties he stubbornly decided to continue on the same path He sent orders to Franklin to renew the assault on the left which as described earlier the Left Grand Division commander ignored and ordered his Center Grand Division commanded by Maj Gen Hooker to cross the Rappahannock into Fredericksburg and continue the attack on Marye s Heights Hooker performed a personal reconnaissance something that neither Burnside nor Sumner had done both remaining east of the river during the failed assaults and returned to Burnside s headquarters to advise against the attack 43 Brig Gen Daniel Butterfield commanding Hooker s V Corps while waiting for Hooker to return from his conference with Burnside sent his division under Brig Gen Charles Griffin to relieve Sturgis s men By this time Maj Gen George Pickett s Confederate division and one of Maj Gen John Bell Hood s brigades had marched north to reinforce Marye s Heights Griffin smashed his three brigades against the Confederate position one by one Also concerned about Sturgis Couch sent the six guns of Capt John G Hazard s Battery B 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery to within 150 yards of the Confederate line They were hit hard by Confederate sharpshooter and artillery fire and provided no effective relief to Sturgis 44 A soldier in Hancock s division reported movement in the Confederate line that led some to believe that the enemy might be retreating Despite the unlikeliness of this supposition the V Corps division of Brig Gen Andrew A Humphreys was ordered to attack and capitalize on the situation Humphreys led his first brigade on horseback with his men moving over and around fallen troops with fixed bayonets and unloaded rifles some of the fallen men clutched at the passing pant legs urging their comrades not to go forward causing the brigade to become disorganized in their advance The charge reached to within 50 yards before being cut down by concentrated rifle fire Brig Gen George Sykes was ordered to move forward with his V Corps regular army division to support Humphreys s retreat but his men were caught in a crossfire and pinned down 45 By 4 00 p m Hooker had returned from his meeting with Burnside having failed to convince the commanding general to abandon the attacks While Humphreys was still attacking Hooker reluctantly ordered the IX Corps division of Brig Gen George W Getty to attack as well but this time to the leftmost portion of Marye s Heights Willis Hill Col Rush Hawkins s brigade followed by Col Edward Harland s brigade moved along an unfinished railroad line just north of Hazel Run approaching close to the Confederate line without detection in the gathering twilight but they were eventually detected fired on and repulsed 46 Seven Union divisions had been sent in generally one brigade at a time for a total of fourteen individual charges 47 all of which failed costing them from 6 000 to 8 000 casualties 48 Confederate losses at Marye s Heights totaled around 1 200 49 The falling of darkness and the pleas of Burnside s subordinates were enough to put an end to the attacks Longstreet later wrote The charges had been desperate and bloody but utterly hopeless 50 Thousands of Union soldiers spent the cold December night on the fields leading to the heights unable to move or assist the wounded because of Confederate fire That night Burnside attempted to blame his subordinates for the disastrous attacks but they argued that it was entirely his fault and no one else s 51 Lull and withdrawal December 14 15 Edit Here is the only known instance in which the Union photographers succeeded in getting a near view of the Confederate troops Mathew Brady s photo shows the other bank of Rappahannock after General Lee allowed Federal troops to collect bodies of fallen soldiers 52 During a dinner meeting the evening of December 13 Burnside dramatically announced that he would personally lead his old IX Corps in one final attack on Marye s Heights but his generals talked him out of it the following morning The armies remained in position throughout the day on December 14 That afternoon Burnside asked Lee for a truce to attend to his wounded which the latter granted The next day the Federal forces retreated across the river and the campaign came to an end 53 Testament to the extent of the carnage and suffering during the battle was the story of Richard Rowland Kirkland a Confederate Army sergeant with Company G 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Stationed at the stone wall by the sunken road below Marye s Heights Kirkland had a close up view to the suffering and like so many others was appalled at the cries for help of the Union wounded throughout the cold winter night of December 13 1862 After obtaining permission from his commander Brig Gen Joseph B Kershaw Kirkland gathered canteens and in broad daylight without the benefit of a cease fire or a flag of truce refused by Kershaw provided water to numerous Union wounded lying on the field of battle Union soldiers held their fire as it was obvious what Kirkland s intent was Kirkland was nicknamed the Angel of Marye s Heights for these actions and is memorialized with a statue by Felix de Weldon on the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park where he carried out his actions 54 Details of this story first recorded in 1880 conflict with multiple after action reports and may have been embellished and personalized for effect 55 On the night of December 14 the Aurora Borealis made an appearance unusual for that latitude presumably caused by a large solar flare One witness described that the wonderful spectacle of the Aurora Borealis was seen in the Gulf States The whole sky was a ruddy glow as if from an enormous conflagration but marked by the darting rays peculiar to the Northern light The event was noted in the diaries and letters of many soldiers at Fredericksburg such as John W Thompson Jr who wrote Louisiana sent those famous cosmopolitan Zouaves called the Louisiana Tigers and there were Florida troops who undismayed in fire stampeded the night after Fredericksburg when the Aurora Borealis snapped and crackled over that field of the frozen dead hard by the Rappahannock 56 Aftermath Edit Western view from Fredericksburg down Telegraph Road with Marye s Heights visible in the distant center Marye s House upon Marye s Heights was the center of the Confederate position during the battle Confederate troop encampments are visible to the right Burnside s headquarters at Phillips House during the battle Sumner s headquarters Chatham Manor on Stafford Heights Burnside observed the battle primarily from this locationCasualties Edit Senior officer casualties Brig Gen John Gibbon wounded Brig Gen Nathan Kimball wounded Brig Gen John C Caldwell wounded Brig Gen George D Bayard killed Brig Gen Conrad F Jackson killed Brig Gen Maxcy Gregg mortally wounded Brig Gen Thomas R R Cobb mortally wounded Brig Gen William D Pender wounded Brig Gen John R Cooke woundedThe Union army suffered 12 653 casualties 1 284 killed 9 600 wounded 1 769 captured missing 10 57 Two Union generals were mortally wounded Brig Gens George D Bayard and Conrad F Jackson The Confederate army lost 5 377 608 killed 4 116 wounded 653 captured missing 12 58 most of them in the early fighting on Jackson s front Confederate Brig Gens Maxcy Gregg and T R R Cobb were both mortally wounded The casualties sustained by each army showed clearly how disastrous the Union army s tactics were Although the fighting on the southern flank produced roughly equal casualties about 4 000 Confederate 5 000 Union the northern flank was completely lopsided with about eight Union casualties for each Confederate Burnside s men had suffered considerably more in the attack originally meant as a diversion than in his main effort 59 Confederate reaction to the news of the victory Edit The South erupted in jubilation over its great victory The Richmond Examiner described it as a stunning defeat to the invader a splendid victory to the defender of the sacred soil General Lee normally reserved was described by the Charleston Mercury as jubilant almost off balance and seemingly desirous of embracing everyone who calls on him The newspaper also exclaimed General Lee knows his business and the army has yet known no such word as fail 60 Lee himself was not as pleased as the rest of the South He later wrote At Fredericksburg we gained a battle inflicting very severe loss on the enemy in men and material our people were greatly elated I was much depressed We had really accomplished nothing we had not gained a foot of ground and I knew the enemy could easily replace the men he had lost and the loss of material was if anything rather beneficial to him as it gave an opportunity to contractors to make money 61 Effect on the Union Edit Reactions were opposite in the North and both the Army and President Lincoln came under strong attacks from politicians and the press The Cincinnati Commercial noted It can hardly be in human nature for men to show more valor or generals to manifest less judgment than were perceptible on our side that day Senator Zachariah Chandler a Radical Republican wrote The President is a weak man too weak for the occasion and those fool or traitor generals are wasting time and yet more precious blood in indecisive battles and delays Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited the White House after a trip to the battlefield He told the president It was not a battle it was a butchery 62 Curtin reported that the president was heart broken at the recital and soon reached a state of nervous excitement bordering on insanity Lincoln himself wrote If there is a worse place than hell I am in it 62 Burnside was relieved of command a month later after an attempt to purge some of his subordinates from the Army and the humiliating failure of his Mud March in January 63 Battlefield preservation Edit Civil War Trust President Jim Lighthizer at Slaughter Pen Farm Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military ParkU S National Register of Historic PlacesU S National Military ParkVirginia Landmarks Register A piece of artillery forming part of Longstreet s Line on Marye s Heights during the Battle of FredericksburgArea4 601 1 acres 1 862 ha NRHP reference No 66000046 64 VLR No 111 0147Significant datesAdded to NRHPOctober 15 1966Designated VLRJanuary 16 1973 65 Main article Preservation efforts of the Fredericksburg battlefield The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park was established in 1927 under the War Department and transferred to the National Park Service in 1933 66 It consists of more than 8 300 acres that cover parts of four Civil War battlefields Fredericksburg Spotsylvania Court House The Wilderness and Chancellorsville 67 In March 2003 the Civil War Trust a division of the American Battlefield Trust announced the beginning of a 12 million national campaign to preserve the historic Slaughter Pen Farm a key part of the Fredericksburg battlefield The 208 acre 0 84 km2 farm known locally as the Pierson Tract was the scene of bloody struggle on December 13 1862 Over this ground Federal troops under Maj Gen George Meade and Brig Gen John Gibbon launched their assault against Lt Gen Thomas Stonewall Jackson s Confederates holding the southern portion of the Army of Northern Virginia s line at Fredericksburg Despite suffering enormous casualties the Federal troops under Meade were able to temporarily penetrate the Confederate line and for a time represented the North s best chance of winning the Battle of Fredericksburg The fighting on this southern portion of the battlefield later named the Slaughter Pen produced 5 000 casualties and five Medal of Honor recipients 68 The Slaughter Pen Farm was considered to be the largest remaining unprotected part of the Fredericksburg battlefield It is also the only place on the battlefield where a visitor can still follow the Union assault of December 13 from beginning to end Nearly all the other land associated with Union attacks at Fredericksburg either on the southern end of the battlefield or in front of Marye s Heights has been degraded by development The 12 million acquisition of the Slaughter Pen Farm at the Fredericksburg battlefield has been called the most ambitious nonprofit battlefield acquisition in American history 69 In October 2006 the Department of the Interior awarded a 2 million grant based on the significance of the Slaughter Pen Farm The money was provided through a U S Congressional appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund The fund supports non federal efforts to acquire and preserve meaningful American Civil War battlefield lands The program is administered by the American Battlefield Protection Program an arm of the National Park Service In addition the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust CVBT committed 1 million toward the Slaughter Pen Farm fundraising campaign 70 In addition to the preservation of the Slaughter Pen Farm the American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved an additional 51 acres 0 21 km2 of the battlefield in more than five other acquisitions 71 In November 2012 during archaeological investigations at the construction site for a new courthouse remains of Union artifacts were recovered These included ammunition smoking pipes and food tins 72 In popular culture EditThe Battle of Fredericksburg was depicted in the 2003 film Gods and Generals based on the novel of the same name a prequel of The Killer Angels from which the earlier film Gettysburg was adapted Both the novel and film focused primarily on the disastrous charges on Marye s Heights with the movie highlighting the charges of Hancock s division of II Corps the Irish Brigade Caldwell s brigade and Zook s brigade and the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment V Corps 73 American author Louisa May Alcott fictionalized her experience nursing soldiers injured in the Battle of Fredericksburg in her book Hospital Sketches 1863 74 American heavy metal band Iced Earth wrote a song inspired by the battle titled Clear The Way December 13th 1862 and included it in their 2017 album Incorruptible 75 A reenactment of the battle by robotic soldiers serves as a tourist attraction in the novel Logan s Run 76 See also Edit Virginia portal American Civil War portalArmies in the American Civil War Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln Bibliography of Ulysses S Grant Bibliography of the American Civil War List of American Civil War battles List of costliest American Civil War land battles Second Battle of Fredericksburg Troop engagements of the American Civil War 1862References EditNotes Further information Official Records Series I Volume XXI pages 48 61 Official Records Series I Volume XXI Part 1 pages 538 545 120 281 present for duty in 3 grand divisions and engineers according to Livermore p 96 a b XI Corps at Fairfax Court House XII Corps at Harper s Ferry Further information Official Records Series I Volume XXI page 1121 113 897 deduct cavalry of Right and Centre Grand Divisions according to Livermore p 96 a b Eicher pp 396 97 O Reilly p 21 Welcher pp 700 701 a b Further information Official Records Series I Volume XXI page 1057 a b Livermore p 96 Eicher p 397 O Reilly p 10 Further information Official Records Series I Volume XXI page 142 a b Eicher p 405 Further information Official Records Series I Volume XXI pages 558 562 a b 5 377 608 killed 4 116 wounded 653 captured missing according to Eicher p 405 Foote p 44 claims that this number was later acknowledged to be 4 201 based on over 1 000 men who had been considered wounded or missing returning from Christmas holidays with their families immediately after the battle Goolrick p 779 agrees with this figure O Reilly pp 4 6 Esposito text to map 71 Marvel pp 159 61 O Reilly pp 1 2 Eicher p 396 O Reilly pp 14 23 Welcher p 700 Marvel pp 164 65 Official Records Series I Vol XIX Part II p 552 81 Rable pp 81 82 O Reilly pp 25 32 Eicher p 397 Welcher p 700 Kennedy p 145 Salmon p 145 Goolrick p 39 O Reilly pp 33 43 Eicher p 397 Welcher pp 701 702 Eicher p 398 Center for Military History p 1 Marvel p 168 O Reilly pp 51 52 Eicher p 398 Goolrick pp 39 40 Esposito map 72 Marvel pp 169 70 Kennedy p 144 Welcher p 701 Goolrick p 39 O Reilly p 7 O Reilly pp 67 85 Goolrick pp 50 52 Esposito map 72 Welcher pp 703 704 Rable pp 166 67 177 89 O Reilly pp 57 126 Eicher pp 398 99 Goolrick pp 53 58 Welcher pp 703 704 Center for Military History p 3 Eicher pp 399 400 Goolrick pp 60 61 Marvel pp 180 87 Center for Military History pp 2 3 Kennedy p 145 O Reilly p 137 To seize was typically ordered for positions not occupied by a significant enemy force Rable pp 191 203 O Reilly pp 135 65 Goolrick pp 63 65 Eicher p 400 Salmon p 163 O Reilly p 211 Goolrick pp 65 67 Rable pp 193 94 205 14 O Reilly pp 166 77 Salmon pp 163 64 Welcher pp 706 707 Rable pp 204 17 Goolrick p 67 Rable pp 211 14 O Reilly pp 187 97 Goolrick pp 67 70 Welcher pp 706 707 Rable p 216 Gallagher p vii discusses the exact wording of Lee s famous quotation John Esten Cooke a member of Jeb Stuart s staff wrote that Lee told Longstreet It is well this is so terrible we should grow too fond of it The quotation as it is generally remembered today was reported by Edward Porter Alexander in his Military Memoirs of a Confederate p 302 and popularized by Douglas Southall Freeman in his 1934 35 biography R E Lee vol 2 p 462 Gallagher remarks that Longstreet made no mention of this quotation in any of his postwar writings Eicher p 403 attributes this remark to Lee in the context of the Marye s Heights front Rable pp 214 17 Welcher p 707 Rable pp 244 52 Goolrick p 71 O Reilly pp 198 245 O Reilly pp 187 245 499 Goolrick p 71 Welcher p 708 Rable pp 211 17 O Reilly pp 244 245 Welcher pp 708 709 Goolrick pp 72 73 Rable pp 219 20 O Reilly pp 249 50 Rable pp 218 28 O Reilly pp 246 73 Goolrick pp 73 77 Welcher pp 709 10 Welcher p 710 O Reilly pp 273 323 Rable pp 228 36 Goolrick pp 77 79 Goolrick pp 80 84 Welcher p 710 O Reilly pp 324 54 Rable pp 237 43 Goolrick p 84 O Reilly pp 324 54 Smith pp 97 98 describes conflicting stories about the nature of Cobb s wound The sniper version is sourced to Kershaw Rable p 228 and Eicher p 401 claim it was a shrapnel wound The National Park Service s Stephens House Marker located on the Fredericksburg Battlefield at the location where General Cobb was killed says his death was the result of a Union artillery shell that passed through the house and he was killed when the shell exploded O Reilly p 363 Eicher p 403 Goolrick p 85 Rable p 254 Marvel pp 192 93 Rable pp 256 59 Goolrick p 85 Welcher p 711 O Reilly pp 363 88 Goolrick pp 85 86 Rable pp 260 64 Welcher p 712 O Reilly pp 390 429 Rable pp 264 66 Welcher p 712 Goolrick p 87 Esposito text for map 73 The divisions were French II Corps Hancock II Howard II Sturgis IX Griffin V Humphreys V and Getty IX Historians differ in reporting Union casualties in the Marye s Heights sector Esposito in notes for map 73 cites over 6 000 Goolrick p 87 cites 7 000 Gallagher p 23 nearly 8 000 All other references list total battle casualties Goolrick pp 83 87 Goolrick p 87 Marvel pp 203 207 The Photographic History of the Civil War 1911 p 27 Rable pp 269 272 Eicher p 403 Marvel pp 196 200 Goolrick pp 89 91 O Reilly p 439 Rable p 273 Michael Schaffner December 22 2009 Civil War Memory Is the Richard Kirkland Story True Space Weather effect sic and Their Hazards Return of casualties in the Union forces commanded by Maj Gen Ambrose E Burnside U S Army at the battle of Fredericksburg Va December 11 15 1862 Official Records Part 1 I Vol XXI pp 129 145 List of killed and wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg Va transmitted by Medical Director Lafayette Guild January 10 1863 Official Records Part 1 I Vol XXI pp 558 562 O Reilly p 499 Goolrick p 92 Rafuse Ethan S January 15 2015 Gettysburg Lee Moves North Measuring Performance and Effectiveness Center for Leadership and Change Management Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Retrieved August 14 2020 a b Goolrick pp 92 93 O Reilly pp 467 91 National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service March 13 2009 Virginia Landmarks Register Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archived from the original on September 21 2013 Retrieved March 19 2013 Zenzen Joan M August 2011 At the Crossroads of Preservation and Development A History of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park PDF National Park Service p 38 Retrieved December 17 2019 Fredericksburg amp Spotsylvania National Military Park U S National Park Service www nps gov Retrieved October 13 2021 Mailing Address 120 Chatham Ln Fredericksburg VA 22405 Phone 540 693 3200 Horror and Heroism at the Slaughter Pen Farm Civil War Trust December 8 2017 Retrieved April 22 2018 1 Saving Fredericksburg s Slaughter Pen Farm American Battlefield Trust feature Accessed May 29 2018 2 Fredericksburg Va Free Lance Star June 7 2012 Fredericksburg park chief Central Virginia Battlefield Trust Virginia officials recognized by Civil War Trust Accessed May 29 2018 3 American Battlefield Trust Saved Land webpage Accessed November 29 2021 Emery Theo November 11 2012 Construction Site Offers Fleeting Glimpse of the Civil War Past The New York Times New York Retrieved November 12 2012 Feis William B Review Gods and Generals The Society for Military History Retrieved March 18 2021 Cooper Joseph H October 17 2013 What Louisa May Alcott s Hospital Sketches reminds us about military hospitals Christian Science Monitor Retrieved January 27 2014 Clear The Way December 13th 1862 by Iced Earth on the official Century Media Label channel on YouTube 4 Nolan William F 1967 Chapter 8 Logan s run 1995 ed Cutchogue N Y Buccaneer Books pp 103 104 ISBN 0899668968 Union artillery batteries were destroying Fredericksburg when Logan and Jess reached ground level Snipers had fired on the Federal troops preparing to cross the Rappahannock River and General Burnside had ordered his cannon to level the town Ambrose E Burnside was a robot an android built to the exact specifications of the famed Civil War officer Logan and Jess edged into the pack of excited tourists and Virginia citizenry crowding the view areas Bibliography Secondary sources dd Alexander Edward P Military Memoirs of a Confederate A Critical Narrative New York Da Capo Press 1993 ISBN 0 306 80509 X First published 1907 by Charles Scribner s Sons Center of Military History Fredericksburg Staff Ride Briefing Book Archived January 2 2011 at the Wayback Machine Washington DC United States Army Center of Military History 2002 OCLC 50210530 Eicher David J The Longest Night A Military History of the Civil War New York Simon amp Schuster 2001 ISBN 0 684 84944 5 Esposito Vincent J West Point Atlas of American Wars New York Frederick A Praeger 1959 OCLC 5890637 The collection of maps without explanatory text is available online at the West Point website Foote Shelby The Civil War A Narrative Vol 2 Fredericksburg to Meridian New York Random House 1958 ISBN 0 394 49517 9 Freeman Douglas S R E Lee A Biography 4 vols New York Charles Scribner s Sons 1934 35 OCLC 166632575 Gallagher Gary W ed The Fredericksburg Campaign Decision on the Rappahannock Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1995 ISBN 0 8078 2193 4 Goolrick William K and the Editors of Time Life Books Rebels Resurgent Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville Alexandria VA Time Life Books 1985 ISBN 0 8094 4748 7 Kennedy Frances H ed The Civil War Battlefield Guide 2nd ed Boston Houghton Mifflin Co 1998 ISBN 0 395 74012 6 Marvel William Burnside Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1991 ISBN 0 8078 1983 2 O Reilly Francis Augustin The Fredericksburg Campaign Winter War on the Rappahannock Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 2003 ISBN 0 8071 3154 7 Rable George C Fredericksburg Fredericksburg Chapel Hill University Of North Carolina Press 2002 ISBN 0 8078 2673 1 Salmon John S The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books 2001 ISBN 0 8117 2868 4 Smith Derek The Gallant Dead Union amp Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books 2005 ISBN 0 8117 0132 8 Tucker Spencer C First Battle of Fredericksburg In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War A Political Social and Military History edited by David S Heidler and Jeanne T Heidler New York W W Norton amp Company 2000 ISBN 0 393 04758 X Welcher Frank J The Union Army 1861 1865 Organization and Operations Vol 1 The Eastern Theater Bloomington Indiana University Press 1989 ISBN 0 253 36453 1 National Park Service Stephens House MarkerMemoirs and primary sources dd Livermore Thomas L Number and losses in the civil war in America 1861 65 2nd ed Boston Houghton Mifflin Co 1901 Longstreet James From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of the Civil War in America New York Da Capo Press 1992 ISBN 0 306 80464 6 First published in 1896 by J B Lippincott and Co Tidball John C The Artillery Service in the War of the Rebellion 1861 1865 Westholme Publishing 2011 ISBN 978 1594161490 U S War Department The War of the Rebellion a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 1 Vol XXI Part 1 and Vol XIX Part II Washington DC U S Government Printing Office 1880 1901 Further reading Catton Bruce Mr Lincoln s Army Garden City NY Doubleday and Company 1951 ISBN 0 385 04310 4 Evans Clement A ed Confederate Military History A Library of Confederate States History 12 vols Atlanta Confederate Publishing Company 1899 OCLC 833588 Glatthaar Joseph T General Lee s Army From Victory to Collapse New York Free Press 2008 ISBN 978 0 684 82787 2 Hattaway Herman and Archer Jones How the North Won A Military History of the Civil War Urbana University of Illinois Press 1983 ISBN 0 252 00918 5 Mackowski Chris and Kristopher D White Simply Murder The Battle of Fredericksburg December 13 1862 El Dorado Hills CA Savas Beatie 2012 ISBN 978 1 61121 146 7 Matteson John A Worse Place Than Hell How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation New York W W Norton and Company 2021 ISBN 9780393247077 Schultz Duane P The Fate of War Fredericksburg 1862 Yardley PA Westholme Publishing 2011 ISBN 978 1 59416 145 2 Wert Jeffry D The Sword of Lincoln The Army of the Potomac New York Simon amp Schuster 2005 ISBN 0 7432 2506 6 External links EditListen to this article 55 minutes source source This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 13 December 2015 2015 12 13 and does not reflect subsequent edits Audio help More spoken articles Wikimedia Commons has media related to wbr Battle of Fredericksburg wbr Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and wbr National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg Virginia National Park Service ABPP Battle Summary Battle of Fredericksburg Battle Maps histories photos and preservation news Civil War Trust Animated map of the Battle of Fredericksburg Civil War Trust Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Battle of Fredericksburg in Encyclopedia Virginia The Brothers War The Battle of Fredericksburg Fredericksburg order of battle Animated history of the Battle of Fredericksburg Pictures of Fredericksburg Battlefield Archived June 19 2013 at the Wayback Machine Texts on Wikisource James Longstreet The Battle of Fredericksburg The Century Magazine Vol XXXII August 1886 No 4 J Horace Lacy Lee at Fredericksburg The Century Magazine Vol XXXII August 1886 No 4 Fredericksburg Battle of New International Encyclopedia 1905 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Battle of Fredericksburg amp oldid 1137135443, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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