Fredericksburg VA I

[Battle of Fredericksburg by Kurz & Allison - Courtesy of Wikipedia]

Date(s): December 11-15, 1862

Location: Please click on link below for map.

Campaign(s): Fredericksburg Campaign [November-December 1862]

Battles in Campaign:

• Fredericksburg, VA I - December 11-15, 1862 A

Situation:

Commanders:

• Union: Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside

• Confederate: Gen. Robert E. Lee

Principal Forces:

• Union: 100,007

• Confederate: 72,497

Description:

• On November 14, Burnside, now in command of the Army of the Potomac, sent a corps to occupy the vicinity of Falmouth near Fredericksburg. The rest of the army soon followed.

• Lee reacted by entrenching his army on the heights behind the town.

• On December 11th, Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock under fire.

• On the 12th, the Federal army crossed over, and on December 13, Burnside mounted a series of futile frontal assaults on Prospect Hill and Marye’s Heights that resulted in staggering casualties.

• Meade’s division, on the Union left flank, briefly penetrated Jackson’s line but was driven back by a counterattack.

• On December 15, Burnside called off the offensive and re-crossed the river, ending the campaign. 

• Burnside initiated a new offensive in January 1863, which quickly bogged down in the winter mud.

• The abortive “Mud March” and other failures led to Burnside’s replacement by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker in January 1863.

Photo Gallery:¹

			The Union Attack Begins
	Thomas R. R. Cobb
Stephens Family Cemetery	Innis House	Innis House	Innis House
The Killing Field	Angel of Marye's Heights	Angel of Marye's Heights
Sunken Road and Stone Wall

Classification²: A

Casualties³:

• Union: 13,353  

• Confederate: 4,576

Results: Confederate Victory

Battlefield Website:

• Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park - National Park Service

Recommended Resources:

¹ Please click on the image to enlarge it. You may copy the images if you include the following note and link with each image: "Courtesy of civil-war-journeys.org."

² Classification:

• A - having a decisive influence on a campaign and a direct impact on the course of the war

• B - having a direct and decisive influence on their campaign

• C - having observable influence on the outcome of a campaign

• D - having a limited influence on the outcome of their campaign or operation but achieving or affecting important local objectives

³ Casualties are someone killed, injured, wounded, captured or missing.

Revised 07/10/2008