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

Map: Fredericksburg Animated Map - CWPT

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: Marye's Heights¹

			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

Photo Gallery: Lee Drive¹

Fredericksburg Campaign	Lee Drive: The Confederate Line	Lee's Headquarters
Lee's Hill: Confederate Command Post	Battle of Fredericksburg from Lee's Hill	Lee's Command Post	Near Disaster
	Artillery on Lee's Hill	The Big Parrotts	The Pioneers
Lee's Hill: The Commanders Outlook	Lee's Hill Marker
Big Gun at Howison Hill	Confederate Artillery Defense
	Rifling	Rifling	Rifling
	Bernard's Cabin Trail	Riverside Plantation: Mannsfield	Jackson's Line
Jackson's Line	Jackson's Line	Union Breakthrough	Death of Maxcy Gregg
The Meade Pyramid	The Meade Pyramid	The Meade Pyramid	Jackson on the Field
	Jackson Holds Prospect Hill	Dead Horse Hill
	Hamilton's Crossing

Photo Gallery: The Slaughter Pen Farm¹

Slaughter Pen Farm	Battle of Fredericksburg	Battle of Fredericksburg	Slaughter Pen Farm - Walking Trail
Slaughter Pen Farm - Into the Field		Slaughter Pen Farm -Meade's Attack
	Slaughter Pen Farm -Killing Range		Slaughter Pen Farm -Gibbon's Advance
	Slaughter Pen Farm -Second Assault	Slaughter Pen Farm - Hand to Hand Combat at the Railroad
	Slaughter Pen Farm -Retreat and Counterattack	Details of Attack and Counterattack

Classification²: A

Casualties³:

• Union: 13,353  

• Confederate: 4,576

Results: Confederate Victory

Battlefield Websites:

• Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park - National Park Service

• The Battle of Fredericksburg - National Park Service Civil War Series

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 07/24/2011