Transcript The Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862

The Battle of
Fredericksburg, 1862
The Geography
Command and Control
The Battle
The Outcome
The Geography
• Fredericksburg lies at the junction of two rivers
with an approach by bridge
• Overlooked by high ground known as Marye’s
Heights, it is a perfect natural defense supported
by a stone wall
• In order to overcome Marye’s Heights an
attacker must cross open ground
• The Heights has been reinforced with rifle pits and
artillery
General Robert Lee
• Mexican War veteran,
present at Harpers Ferry in
1859
• Joins Confederacy because
of loyalty to Virginia, not a
slave owner
• A brilliant strategist who
takes the battle to his
opponents, also uses terrain
to his advantage
Ambrose Burnside
• A likeable man but, aware
of his limitations as a poor
commander
• Hesitant and fails to follow
through with decisiveness
• Best known for his military
blunders and as the
originator of the
“sideburns”
The Opening Moves
• Both armies are probing
one another in early
Nov.10 1862
• Lee seizes the initiative
and moves to
Fredericksburg and
occupies the area
• Burnside fails to move
swiftly and is in place by
Dec 10, 1862
The Opening Moves
Union Army
• Burnside’s plan relies on
speed, concealment and
superior numbers
• He plans to cross the
Rappanock River at three
points using pontoon
boats and then taking the
city while moving troops
up the left side of Lee’s
position and outflanking
him
CSA
• Lee will use terrain,
he has city and high
ground to use
• Lee knows Union
must attack and will
have to dislodge his
troops from both city
and Marye’s Heights
The Opening Moves
• Union troops failed to take
Fredericksburg, they
hesitated because of
unknown
• Pontoon boats show CSA
that Union plans to cross
river way
• Union outnumbers CSA
2:1 but has telegraphed its
strength
December 12, 1862
•
December 11, 1862
• Union crosses the
Rappannock River on the
pontoons and enters the
outskirts of city
• CSA are using buildings,
and spider holes to pick off
Union troops
• Union will attack city in
column formations this
overwhelms CSA and they
take the city
A Confederate General’s
point of View
“General we can cover that ground…so well that
we comb it as with a fine tooth comb. A chicken
could not live on that field when we open [fire] on
it.”
Colonel Alexander Porter
Marye’s Heights
11 December 1862
December 12, 1862
• Burnsides believes that his
superior numbers can
remove CSA from Marye’s
Heights
• He will launch 6 assaults on
the area but will not
dislodge the CSA
• The assaults are nothing
more than sending waves of
soldiers towards the Heights
December 12, 1862
• One of the most famous
assaults on the Heights
was led by the Irish
Brigade
• The Brigade was
comprised entirely of Irish
immigrants, fighting to
prove their patriotism and
manhood
• Men will lie quivering and
withering in agony crying
for their mothers or
begging to be killed
December 13, 1862
• Union forces will
attempt to move on the
left side of the CSA
• The CSA are entrenched
in a wooded area but
will be pushed back by
superior Union numbers
• The Union forces are
unable to hold the
ground and withdraw
The Aftermath
• Union losses were 12,000 and CSA losses 4,500
• The CSA showed that entrenched forces could
hold off superior numbers
• The Union learned it must maintain secrecy
concerning its moves
• Burnside shows that the Union needs to find a
competent general
• Fredericksburg shows that both sides have the will
to continue fighting even in the face of death
The Aftermath