Battle Of Fredericksburg

Confederate Victory - Maj. General Ambrose E. Burnside versus General Robert E. Lee.

Forces Engaged: 172,504 total - US 100,007 and CS 72,497. Estimated Casualties: 17,929 total US 13,353 and CS 4,576.

Burnside looses his command.

During the period of enforced inaction that followed, General Burnside went to Washington and expressed his doubts as to the policy of crossing the river, in view of the failure of the attempt to divide Lee's. forces. But he was urged to push a winter campaign against Richmond, and, returning to the front, gave orders to place the bridges. This was gallantly effected in the face of a sharp resistance, Fredericksburg was cleared of the enemy, and on 13 Dec, the whole national army had crossed and was in position south of the Rappahannock. 

The situation in brief was this: South and in the rear of Fredericksburg is a range of hills irregularly parallel to the course of the river; the space between is a plateau well adapted for the movement of troops. The national army in the three grand divisions specified, Sumner holding the right, Hooker the centre, and Franklin the left, occupied this. The Confederates occupied the naturally strong position along the crest of the hills, and were well entrenched, with batteries in position. Longstreet commanded the right wing, and Jackson the left. The weak point of the Confederate line was at its right, owing to a depression of the hills, and here it was at first intended to make a determined assault; but, for some reason, orders were sent to Franklin, at the last moment, merely to make a demonstration, while Sumner attempted to carry Marye's hill, which, naturally a strong position, was rendered nearly impregnable by a sunken road, bordered by a stone wall, along its base. The best battalions in the army were sent against this position; but the fire of artillery and infantry was so severe that nothing was gained, although the struggle was" kept up till nightfall, General Hooker's division being the last to attack, only to be repelled as its predecessors had been. Burnside would have renewed the attack on the next day, but Sumner dissuaded him at the last moment, and that night the whole army re-crossed the river, having lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, more than 12,000 men. Some of these, however, afterward returned to their regiments. 

The Confederate loss was 5,309. Insubordination was soon developed among the corps and division commanders, and Burnside issued an order, subject to the president's approval, summarily dismissing several of them from the service, and relieving others from duty. The order, which sweepingly included Hooker, Franklin, Newton, and Brooks, was not approved, and Maj.-General Hooker superseded General Burnside.

Biographies of Participants

• Adelbert Ames - Adelbert Ames
• John Butterfield - John Butterfield
• James Stokes Biddle - James Stokes Biddle
• George Woodruff - George Woodruff
• Daniel Phineas Woodbury - Daniel Phineas Woodbury
• Selden Connor - Selden Connor
• Samuel Wilkeson - Samuel Wilkeson
• Simon Willard - Simon Willard
• Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox - Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox
• Amiel Weeks Whipple - Amiel Weeks Whipple
• Warren Webster - Warren Webster
• Charles E. Cross - Charles E. Cross
• Gouverneur Kemble Warren - Gouverneur Kemble Warren
• James Wadsworth - James Wadsworth
• John Heyl Vincent - John Heyl Vincent
• John Rogers Vinton - John Rogers Vinton
• Adin Ballou Underwood - Adin Ballou Underwood
• Erastus B. Tyler - Erastus B. Tyler
• David Loy Tressler - David Loy Tressler
• Henry Edwin Tremain - Henry Edwin Tremain
• Abner Doubleday - Abner Doubleday
• George Tibbits - George Tibbits
• Oliver Edwards - Oliver Edwards
• William Rufus Terrill - William Rufus Terrill
• Zachary Taylor - Zachary Taylor
• Jane Grey Swisshelm - Jane Grey Swisshelm
• John Egbert Farnum - John Egbert Farnum
• Edwin Vose Sumner - Edwin Vose Sumner
• Samuel Davis Sturgis - Samuel Davis Sturgis
• Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart - Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart
• George Stoneman - George Stoneman
• Edmund Clarence Stedman - Edmund Clarence Stedman
• William Farrar Smith - William Farrar Smith
• Henry Warner Slocum - Henry Warner Slocum
• Philip Henry Sheridan - Philip Henry Sheridan
• Richard Russell - Richard Russell
• James Wolfe Ripley - James Wolfe Ripley
• James Clay Rice - James Clay Rice
• William Reynolds - William Reynolds
• Augustus James Pleasonton - Augustus James Pleasonton
• Orlando Metcalfe Poe - Orlando Metcalfe Poe
• Alonzo Potter - Alonzo Potter
• Joseph Haydn Potter - Joseph Haydn Potter
• Gabriel Rene Paul - Gabriel Rene Paul
• John Grubb Parke - John Grubb Parke
• Charles Swain Lovell - Charles Swain Lovell
• Paul Ambrose Oliver - Paul Ambrose Oliver
• John Newton - John Newton
• George Meade - George Meade
• George Nelson Morgan - George Nelson Morgan
• James Monroe - James Monroe
• Lafayette McLaws - Lafayette McLaws
• Samuel McClellan - Samuel McClellan
• James Longstreet - James Longstreet
• Abraham Lincoln - Abraham Lincoln
• Robert Edward Lee - Robert Edward Lee
• George Edward Pickett - George Edward Pickett
• Marie Jean Paul Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert du Motie - Marie Jean Paul Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert du Motier Lafayette
• Ephraim Kirby - Ephraim Kirby
• Nathan Kimball - Nathan Kimball
• Edgar Allison Kimball - Edgar Allison Kimball
• Joseph B. Kiddo0 - Joseph B. Kiddo0
• Joseph Brevard Kersitaw - Joseph Brevard Kersitaw
• Paul Revere - Paul Revere
• Thomas Jonathan Jackson - Thomas Jonathan Jackson
• Joseph Cooke Jackson - Joseph Cooke Jackson
• Conrad Faeger Jackson - Conrad Faeger Jackson
• Paul Dudley Sargent - Paul Dudley Sargent
• Rufus Ingalls - Rufus Ingalls
• Alfred Moore Scales - Alfred Moore Scales

   

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