The Rappahannock River meanders its way through northern Virginia from its headwaters in the Blue Ridge to the Chesapeake Bay. In northwest Virgina, on a lazy curve on the south side of the river lies the town of Fredericksburg.
It is 1862.
That September, the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert E. Lee retreated from Maryland after the battle of Antietam. The battle itself was a draw, but Lee's resources were low, and was under pressure from the huge federal Army of the Potomac under the command of General George McClellan.
But McClellan, though loved by his troops, was an overly cautious man. He did not take advantage of Lee's predicament and let Lee escape back over the Potomac to Virginia. In November, President Lincoln replaced McClellan with Maj. General Ambrose E. Burnside.
Lee spread his forces across the Rappahannock to be in position to counter Burnside's next move.
Lincoln wanted Burnside to move and move quickly. Under this prodding, Burnside developed a plan that relied on quick movement and deceit.
He planned to concentrate his force in a highly visible manner near Warrenton. From there he would feint west towards Culpeper Court House but then rapidly shift his army southeast towards Fredericksburg, cross the Rappahannock, and move on to Richmond.
By way of preparation, Burnside began assembling a supply base at Falmouth near Fredericksburg.
The whole plan was based on the assumption that Lee would react in the manner that Burnside expected.
He was wrong.
The huge Union army, 120,000 men strong reached Falmouth on November 17th, but Burnside's plan immediately started to go awry. Because of administrative bungling, the pontoon boats he needed to construct bridges across the Rappahannock had not yet arrived.
Maj. General Edwin Sumner strongly advised that Burnside could capture Fredericksburg "on the run" as at this point there were only around 500 Confederate troops in and around the town.
Burnside declined as he feared his advance troops could be cut off and destroyed by Confederate reinforcements.
By November 21st, a Confederate corps under Lt. General James Longstreet arrived in the Fredericksburg area with another corps commanded by Lt. General Stonewall Jackson close behind.
Lee had smelled out Burnside's plan.
Burnside originally planned to cross his army just to the east of Fredericksburg, but a Confederate force arrived there and blocked him. So Burnside decided to attack at Fredericksburg itself.
The pontoon bridges finally arrived on November 25th -- but much to late to effect a crossing without opposition.
But Longstreet was not jet in position in strength and another "on the run" crossing was possible. Burnside squandered this opportunity also.
Lee, who had around 85,000 men, deployed his forces. He placed Longstreet on the left with 20,000 men on Marye's Heights beyond the town. Fearing a river crossing to his right, he placed the majority of his forces there under Jackson.
Union engineers began to assemble the pontoon bridges. Two were to be just north of the town center, one at the south end of the town, and three more further to the south.
As the engineers were assembling these bridges they came under heavy fire from Confederate sharpshooters. Eventually parties were sent across the river in small boats to deal with the sharpshooters and to establish a bridgehead.
Also, Union artillery shot some 5,000 shells into the town and the ridges to the west.
Eventually, the Union army started pouring across the river.
But then, they began to loot the town with a fury that enraged Lee. It also enraged Lee's men -- many of whom were Virginians.
The battle opened on December 13th south of the town. Union forces were firmly repulsed by Jackson's men.
The action then shifted north to Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights.
Besides being the highest ground in the area, Marye's Heights featured a sunken road with a stone wall. In front of this wall was a marvelous, clear field of fire.
Wave after wave of Union troops assaulted this position to no avail generally in brigade formations (2,000-3,000 men each).
They marched, out in the open, shoulder to shoulder, right up to an entrenched wall and got blown away because at this time generals still thought that, despite advances in weaponry, the best way to take a position was to assault it head on.
Sixteen separate charges were made causing massive Union casualties.
Witnessing the carnage from above, Lee remarked to Longstreet: "It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it."
Marye's Heights and the stone wall were not taken. Thousands of Union troops spent the cold December night on the field unable to withdraw because of the remorseless Confederate fire.
The next morning the armies remained in place until Burnside asked Lee for a truce so that the wounded could be attended to. Lee graciously agreed.
The next day, Union forces retreated back over the river ending the battle and Burnside's campaign.
The Union army suffered 12,653 casualties, most of them in front of the stone wall at Marye's Heights.
The Confederates lost 5,377 killed, wounded, and missing.
The North was outraged by the battle.
The battle of Fredericksburg was described by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin who was visiting Lincoln at the White House at the time, as "not a battle, but a butchery".
