Battle Of Fredericksburg Facts: Summary, Dates, Outcome, & More

The battle of Fredericksburg was a major battle of the American Civil War and resulted in a Confederate victory.

It is known as one of the war's most one-sided encounters, with Union losses more than twice as high as Confederate artillery casualties. A visitor to the battlefield characterized the combat to US President Abraham Lincoln as a 'butchery.'

In this article, we will discuss the dates of the battle, the outcome, and some key facts about this important event in American history!

Battle Of Fredericksburg Summary

In the American Civil War's Eastern Theater, the Battle of Fredericksburg took place in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, during December 11–15, 1862.

The fighting between the Union Army of the Potomac, led by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led to a series of futile frontal assaults by the Union soldiers on December 13 against entrenched Confederate line defenders along the Sunken Road on the heights behind the city.

Burnside's strategy was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and rush to Richmond before Lee's army could stop him.

Burnside could not obtain the requisite pontoon bridges in time due to bureaucratic delays, so Lee sent his force to block the hamilton's crossing. When the Union force, with the help of union engineers, was eventually able to build bridges and cross under heavy fire, it culminated in a direct battle within the city on December 11–12.

Union soldiers prepared to attack Confederate defensive positions south of the city and on Marye's Heights, a heavily fortified mountain directly west of the city.

On December 13, the Left Grand Division of Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin was able to breach Confederate lines, Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's initial defensive line to the south but was ultimately defeated.

Burnside directed major generals Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker's Right and Center Grand Divisions to attempt numerous frontal (artillery fire) assaults on Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights, all of which were defeated with great losses.

Burnside withdrew his troops on December 15, ending another disastrous Union campaign in the Eastern Theater.

Battle Of Fredericksburg Significance

The Battle of Fredericksburg was a significant event in the American Civil War in a list of world wars.

It resulted in a Confederate lines' victory and helped to boost morale for the Southern army. The battle also showed the importance of good military strategy and leadership, as General Robert E. Lee's tactics were instrumental in achieving the victory of the Confederate forces.

Finally, the Battle of Fredericksburg was also significant because it marked the beginning of a string of Confederate victories in the American Civil War. These victories would eventually lead to the Confederacy's independence from the United States in American military history.

Burnside's plan held a lot of potential. Before Robert E. Lee's army, he arrived at Fredericksburg, a little town on the Rappahannock River.

Burnside might easily have seized the city and marched on Richmond with few Confederates defending it. They pursued Lee controlling the only substantial force capable of opposing him. Still, his army was divided: Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's Corps was a week's march distant in the Shenandoah Valley, a week's march from Fredericksburg.

The delay gave Lee time to re-assemble his force in solid positions west of Fredericksburg, yet Burnside decided to cross the river nevertheless.

President Abraham Lincoln relieved Gen. George McClellan of command of the Army of the Potomac in November 1862. After failing to capitalize on the expensive Union victory at Antietam, McClellan was replaced by Burnside, one of his corps commanders.

Burnside, who didn't even wish for the post. He accepted it reluctantly and went into Virginia on the attack on Richmond, the Confederate capital.

He set out from Warrenton, Virginia, intending to establish a foothold across the Rappahannock River at or around Fredericksburg. When Burnside arrived at Falmouth, on the north bank of the Rappahannock, he discovered the importance of pontoon bridges for his operation, which hadn't arrived from Washington.

While Burnside waited for them, Lee consolidated his hold on the south bank, with his left flank on the river above Fredericksburg and his right at Hamilton's Crossing on the Richmond railway. The Confederates established a stronghold on Marye's Heights above Fredericksburg.

On December 10, Burnside personally led to go across the river with almost 100,000 Union troops, having acquired his pontoon bridge by then. Burnside ordered Union artillery to pound the town in an attempt to put a stop to the sniper fire.

Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner, commanding the Union divisions right, was to go across at Fredericksburg, while Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, commanding the Union left, was to connect the two attacks and reinforce either as needed.

The Union artillery took hold along the north bank's prospect hill to cover the crossing, and Franklin's force waited up on the opposite side of the Rappahannock on December 11–12, faced little opposition.

Confederate riflemen sheltering in Fredericksburg's gardens and residences, on the other hand, caused significant loss to Union advance pioneers.

In order to fight the Confederate skirmishers immediately, a group of volunteers had to be rowed over under fire. On December 12, Sumner's two corps accomplished the crossing.

The next day, Franklin dispatched the Union army to the left against an entrenched force headed by Maj. Gen. Thomas ('Stonewall') Jackson. Franklin's men could breach the Confederate line, but ambiguous orders from Burnside caused Franklin to commit just one of his six divisions to the offensive.

Franklin's failure to capitalize on this advantage allowed Jackson to execute a successful counterattack, driving the Union troops back with severe casualties.

It is worthy to note that the Confederate left flank, Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet's corps held Marye's Heights and Burnside, who directed Maj. Gen. Darius Couch's corps launched a bayonet attack against the Confederate trenches.

The stone wall just at the foot of the Marye's heights was braced with nearly every weapon Longstreet's corps managed position so as to fire. Confederate guns showered down fiercely on the invaders above them.

Union artillery was too far away on the heights across the river to help them.

This massacre was fed into slaughter pen division after division, and not a single Union man made it to the wall. Sumner's and most of Hooker's battalions were destroyed, and the wreckage of the right flank was evacuated that night.

After that, Burnside advocated personally leading the IX Corps, which he had previously commanded, in one mass attack on the stone wall, but his officers dissuaded him. The Army of the Potomac pulled back to its encampment at Falmouth on the night of December 15. The Union had about 13,000 fatalities, while the Confederates had roughly 5,000.

The political ramifications of the Union's defeat were severe in the North. Many people criticized Lincoln, arguing that he had permitted Burnside to launch an attack that would definitely fail.

Others questioned Lincoln's cabinet picks' ability. As a result, most Republican senators voted to remove Secretary of State William Seward, who had been picked as the scapegoat for the battle's administrative gaffes. Even after the failed attacks, Seward held his post.

The senators also pressed Lincoln to reshuffle his cabinet. He did not do so. Following another unsuccessful effort (later dubbed the Mud March) in January, Lincoln stripped Burnside of command and placed Joseph Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

After the devastating disaster of Antietam, the triumph in the south improved morale. Lee's army spent the winter behind the Rappahannock, and when Union forces crossed the river again in the spring, he achieved probably his most daring victory at Chancellorsville in May.

Battle Of Fredericksburg Casualties

The Union casualties were 12,653 men (1,284 dead, 9,600 wounded, and 1,769 captured/missing). Brig. Gens. George D. Bayard and Conrad F. Jackson died as wounded soldiers.

The Confederate troops suffered 5,377 casualties (608 dead, 4,116 wounded, and 653 captured/missing), the majority of whom died in the early battle on Jackson's front. Brig.

Gens. Maxcy Gregg and T. R. R. Cobb of the Confederacy were both killed. The fatalities suffered by each army demonstrated unequivocally how terrible the Union army's tactics were.

Although the combat on the southern flank was fairly equal (about 4,000 Confederate, 5,000 Union), the battle on the northern flank was entirely lopsided, with almost eight Union deaths for every Confederate. Burnside's soldiers had lost far more casualties in the attack intended as a decoy than it was in his main offensive.

Battle Of Fredericksburg Generals

Burnside arranged his Union forces of the Potomac into three so-called great divisions, which comprised infantry corps, cavalry, and union artillery, totaling 120,000 troops, 114,000 of whom would fight in the next battle,

Maj. Gen. Edwin V. 'Bull' Sumner led the Right Grand Division, which included the II Corps of Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couch and the IX Corps of Brig. Gen. Orlando B. Willcox. Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton was assigned command of a cavalry division.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker led the Center Grand Division, which included Brig. Gen. George Stoneman's III Corps and Maj. Gen. Daniel Butterfield's V Corps. Brig. Gen. William W. Averell was in command of a cavalry brigade.

Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin led the Left Grand Division, which included the I Corps of Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds and the VI Corps of Maj. Gen. William F. 'Baldy' Smith. Brig. Gen. George D. Bayard's cavalry brigade was attached.

The reserve that Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel of the XI Corps led was stationed in the vicinity of Fairfax Court House. On December 9, the XII Corps, headed by Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum was summoned from Harpers Ferry to Dumfries, Virginia, to join the reserve force, although none of these men took part in the combat.

Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had roughly 79,000 men, with 72,500 actively engaged. On November 6, 1862, an act of the Confederate Congress authorized his army's formation in corps, which consisted of:

Lt. Gen. James Longstreet First Corps contained divisions led by Maj. Gens. Lafayette McLaws, Richard H. Anderson, George E. Pickett, and John Bell Hood, as well as Brig. Gen. Robert Ransom, Jr.

Lt. Gen. Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson's Second Corps contained the divisions of Maj. Gens. DH Hill and AP Hill, as well as Brig. Gens. Jubal A. Early and William B. Taliaferro.

Brig. Gen. William N. Pendleton commanded the reserve artillery.

Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart commanded the cavalry division.