Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Battle of Fredericksburg

The Army of the Potomac had pushed Robert E. Lees army out of Maryland in September 1862 after the Battle of Antietam, but President Lincoln and his War Department wanted the army to continue going after the Army of Northern Virginia after it retreated back into Virginia. When George B. McClellan refused to do it, Lincoln fired him and installed Ambrose E. Burnside as the new commander. Burnside, who didnt believe himself capable of commanding the Army of the Potomac, only took the job because he was told Fighting Joe Hooker would get the spot if he refused. With Washington urging Burnside to advance against Lee, Burnside launched an ill fated operation across the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg in December 1862. From December 12-13, Burnside struggled to get his army across the river while it was under fire from Confederates in Fredericksburg. Things only got worse on the day of the battle. With the Unions left unable to dislodge Stonewall Jacksons troops on the Confederates right flank, Burnsides army conducted piecemeal charges against well fortified Confederate positions on Maryes Heights just outside of Fredericksburg. As the Northern troops were slaughtered time and again on the heights, Lee turned to Corps commander James Longstreet and said, It is good that war is so terrible; otherwise we would grow too fond of it. As Northern soldiers laid freezing on the field that night, the Northern Lights made a rare appearance. Southern soldiers interpreted it as a favorable sign from God and mentioned them frequently in their diaries, while Northern soldiers who saw something far less divine sparsely mentioned them. One of the most prominent generals during and after the war was James Longstreet, Lees senior corps leader for many years in the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet played critical roles in battles like Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and Antietam, and he wrote voluminously after the war defending his war record against critics. After the war, he wrote an account of the Battle of Fredericksburg that was eventually published in the well known Battles & Leaders series. This edition of Battles & Leaders of the Civil War: The Battle of Fredericksburg is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and pictures of Antietams important commanders.