Fredericksburg

Battle of Fredericksburg

December 11th - 16th 1862

The battle of Fredericksburg saw the greatest street fighting demonstrated by the Confederate army. As General McClellan read the order from Lincoln that removed him from command of the Army of the Potomac, General Burnside sat in the room, thinking. Burnside had just inherited one of the most famed armies of the Civil War, the Army of the Potomac.

This army had seen plenty of action already in the war and was battle ready or so it thought. This battle showed the Confederate army that although it had limited resources, it would not give in to the giant war machine of the Union. The battle plan of Burnside was to go to the Rappahannock River and build a series of pontoon bridges in which he would use to invade the town. What actually happened was due to Union disorganization and Confederate sharp shooting expertise.

On the opposite side of the river, was the fabled Confederate leader, General Lee. Lee had previously divided his army in two at Maryland. Lee had put Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley and had Longstreet at Culpeper. Leaving the city of Fredericksburg unguarded. Lee had not intended on Burnside making a plan to attack from The Rappahannock riverbanks.

Time was of the essence as the Union army awaited the pontoon builders from the north. Through a series of military and transportation blunders, Burnsides pontoon wing was delayed. This afforded Lee the precious time he needed to have both of his generals in town, waiting for Burnside. When the pontoon bridge builders arrived, lee had positioned a team of snipers from Mississippi under the command of William Barksdale to harass the bridge builders. When Burnside ordered the pontoon builders to the edge of the river, the Union body count rose as the snipers from Mississippi took their shots. Nine separate times did Burnside send in the builders and nine times they were sent retreating back to him. This angered Burnside and he made a bold decision.

Burnside ordered his cannon groups to fire upon the old city. The volleys of lead balls flew through the air all night. In the morning, Burnside thought that he had pounded the city into submission. As the bridge builders went back out to finish their work the musket shots rang out. The Confederates were still there dug in and fighting. Burnside was incensed and ordered troops to ferry across the river on clumsy pontoon boats. After hundreds of men were killed attempting to cross the river, enough finally made it to start dislodging the snipers. This turned into an all out street fight with the boys from Mississippi getting the best of the union troops. The battle raged on until Burnside could afford no more losses of men. The battle was over and the town was saved.

This battle was a decisive and definitive win by the Confederates however it only delayed the inevitable. The Union with it's almost limitless supply of both men and arms could afford to wait until a better time to once again attack the city. The Confederates with a very limited number of both men and supplies could not. The end was near. Lee knew that.

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