The silent city of military graves at Fredericksburg is a memorial of
one of the bloodiest battles of the war. General McClellan failed to
follow up the retreating Southern army after the battle of Antietam,
and thereby lost favor with the authorities at Washington, and was
relieved of the command of the army, which was handed to General
Ambrose E. Burnside, who took command of the Army of the Potomac on
November 9, 1862, and on the following day McClellan took leave of his
troops.
Burnside changed the whole plan of the campaign and decided to move
on Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock River. His army moved forward
in three divisions, under Sumner, Hooker and Franklin. They were
delayed several days in crossing the river, due to the failure of
the arrival of the pontoon bridges. A council of war was held on the
night of December 10th, in which the officers were opposed to the
plan of battle, but Burnside was determined to carry out his original
plan immediately. After two days of skirmishing with the Confederate
sharpshooters he succeeded in getting his army across the river on the
morning of December 13th.
General Lee had by this time entrenched his army on the hills
surrounding Fredericksburg. His line stretched for five miles along the
range of hills, surrounding the town on all sides save the east, where
the river flows. The strongest position of the Confederates was on
Marye's Heights, in the rear of the town. Along the foot of this hill
was a stone wall about four feet high, bounding the eastern side of the
Telegraph road, being depressed a few feet below the surface of the
stone wall, and thus it formed a breastwork for the Confederate troops.
Behind this wall a strong Confederate force was concealed, while higher
up the hill in several ranks the main army was posted. The right wing
of the Confederate army, consisting of about 30,000 men, commanded
by "Stonewall" Jackson, was posted on an elevation near Hamilton's
crossing of the Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad. The left wing
was posted on Marye's Heights, and was commanded by the redoubtable
Longstreet. The Southern forces numbered about 75,000 men.
The town proper and the adjoining valleys had been occupied for two
days by the Federal troops, marching to and fro and making ready for
a decisive conflict, which required no prophet to foretell was near
at hand. Franklin's division of 40,000 men was strengthened by a part
of Hooker's division and was ordered to make the first attack on the
Confederate right, under Jackson. Sumner's division was also reënforced
from Hooker's division and was formed for an assault against the
Confederates, posted on Marye's Heights.
From the position taken by the Confederate forces their cannons and
field artillery poured shot and shell into the town of Fredericksburg.
Every house became a target, though deserted except by a few
venturesome riflemen. There was scarcely a house that escaped. Ruined,
battered and bloody Fredericksburg three times was a Federal hospital
and its back yards became little cemeteries.
All this magnificent battle formation had been effected under cover
of a dense fog, and when it lifted on that fateful Saturday there was
revealed a scene of truly military grandeur. Concealed by the curtain
of nature, the Southern army had entrenched itself most advantageously
upon the hills, and the Union force massed in strength below, lay
within cannon shot of their foe. The Union army totaled 113,000 men.
[Illustration: BATTLEFIELD OF FIRST BULL RUN]
When the fog lifted in the forenoon of December 13th, Franklin's
division was revealed in full strength marching and counter-marching in
preparation of the coming conflict. Officers in new uniforms, thousands
of bayonets gleaming in the sunshine, champing steeds, rattling
gun-carriages whisking artillery into proper range, formed a scene of
magnificent grandeur, which excited the admiration of all, even the
Confederates. This maneuver has been called the grandest military scene
of the war, yet after all this show, Burnside's subordinate officers
were unanimous in their belief in the rashness of the undertaking. It
is said by historians that the Army of the Potomac never went down
to battle with less alacrity than on this day at Fredericksburg.
The advance began about the middle of the forenoon on Jackson's right,
which was made by the divisions led by Generals Meade, Doubleday
and Gibbon, who endeavored to seize one of the opposing heights on
Jackson's extreme right. The advance was made in three lines of battle,
which were guarded in front and on each flank by Jackson, whose
artillery swept the field by both a front and an enfilading fire as
the attacking columns advanced. And as the divisions approached within
range Jackson's left poured a deadly fire of musketry upon them, which
mowed down brave men in the Union lines in swaths, leaving broad gaps
where men had stood.
On the Federal columns came, only to be swept again and again by this
murderous fire, but were at length repulsed.
The Confederate lines were broken only once by a part of Meade's
division, which captured a few flags and several prisoners. The lost
ground was soon recovered by the Confederates. Some of the charges
made by the Federals in this engagement were heroic in the extreme.
In one advance knapsacks were unslung and bayonets fixed; a brigade
marched across a plowed field and passed through broken lines of other
brigades, which were retiring in confusion from the leaden storm. In
every instance the Federals were driven back in shattered columns.
The dead and wounded lay in heaps. Soldiers were fleeing and officers
were galloping to and fro, urging their lines forward.
At length they received orders to retreat, and in retiring from the
field the destruction was almost as great as during the assault. Most
of the wounded were brought from the field after the engagement, but
the dead were left where they fell.
During this engagement General George D. Bayard was mortally wounded by
a shot that had severed the sword-belt of a subordinate officer who was
standing by.
While Franklin's division was engaged with the Confederate right,
Sumner's division was engaged in a terrific assault upon the works of
Marye's Heights, which was the stronghold of the Confederate forces.
Their position was almost impregnable, consisting of earthworks, wood
and stone barricades, running along the sunken road near the foot of
the hill. The Federals were not apprised of the sunken road nor of the
Confederate force concealed behind the stone wall, under General Cobb.
When the Federals advanced up the road they were harassed by shot and
shell at every step, but came dashing on in line notwithstanding the
terrific fire which poured upon them. The Irish brigade of Hancock's
division, under General Meagher, made a wonderful charge, the Irish
soldiers moved steadily up the ridge until within a few yards of the
sunken road, from which the unexpected fire mowed them down. When they
returned from the assault but 250 out of 1,200 men reported under arms
from the field, and all these were needed to care for their wounded
comrades. This brigade, as we will notice later, distinguished itself
at Gettysburg and other engagements. It lost more men in killed and
wounded than any regiment that left the State of New York. When
returning to be mustered out in 1865, it had only forty-seven men out
of 950 that enlisted four years before on first leaving for the front.
Sumner sent column after column against this strong position, but
they were repulsed with great slaughter. The approach was completely
commanded by the Confederate batteries.
Not only was the Confederate fire disastrous upon the approaching
columns, but it also inflicted great damage upon the masses of the
Federal army, and it is said that in front of Marye's house, which was
in the center where the charge was made, the Federals fell three deep
in one of the bravest and bloodiest charges of the war.
Six times did the Federals, raked by the deadly fire of Washington's
artillery, advance to within 100 yards of the sunken road, only to be
driven back by the rapid fire of the Confederate infantry concealed
there. The Confederates' effective and successful work in this battle
was not alone due to their strong position, but also to the skill and
generalship of the leaders, and the courage and well-directed aim of
their cannoneers and infantry.
The whole plain was covered with men, the living men running here and
there, their broken lines closing up and the wounded being carried to
the rear.
The point and method of attack made by Sumner was anticipated by the
Confederates, and careful preparation had been made to meet it.
As the Federal columns advanced without hurrah or battle-cry, their
entire lines were swept by a heavy artillery fire, which poured
canister and shell and solid shot into their ranks from the front
and on both sides with frightful results. The ground was so thickly
strewn with dead bodies as seriously to impede the movements of renewed
attack. These repeated assaults in such good order caused some fear on
the part of General Lee that they might eventually break his lines, and
he conveyed his anxiety to General Longstreet, but his fears proved
groundless.
General Cobb, who had so gallantly defended the Confederate position at
the sunken road, against the onslaughts of the Federals, fell mortally
wounded and was carried from the field.
His command was handed to Kershaw, who took his place in this desperate
struggle. The onrushing Federals fell almost in battalions; the dead
and wounded lay in heaps. Late in the day the dead bodies, which had
become frozen from the extreme cold, were placed in front of the
soldiers as a protection to shield the living.
The steadiness of the Union troops and the silent and determined
heroism of the rank and file in these repeated but hopeless assaults
upon the Confederate works were marvelous indeed, and will go down in
history as a monument to the memory of those who were engaged in this
terrible conflict.
After these disastrous attempts to carry the works of the Confederate
left it was night; the Federals had retired; hope was abandoned, and it
was seen that the day was lost for the Union forces. The shattered Army
of the Potomac sought to gather and care for the wounded. The beautiful
Fredericksburg of a few days before now had put on a different
appearance. Ancestral homes were turned into hospitals. The charming
drives and stately groves, and the pleasure grounds of the colonial
days, were not filled with grand carriages and gay parties, but with
war horses, soldiers and other military equipments, and had put on the
gloom that follows in the wake of a defeated army after a great battle.
The plan of Burnside had ended in failure. In his report of the battle
to Washington he gave reasons for the issue, and in a manly way took
the responsibility upon himself and most highly commended his officers
and men.
President Lincoln's verdict of this battle is reverse to the unanimous
opinions of the historians. In his reply to Burnside's report of the
battle he says, "Although you were not successful, the attempt was not
an error, nor the failure other than accident."
After the battle the wounded lay on the field in their agony, exposed
to the freezing cold for forty-eight hours before they were cared for.
Many were burned by the long dead grass becoming ignited by the cannon
fire.
The scene witnessed was dreadful and heart-rending. The Union loss was
about 12,000, and the Confederates less than half that number. The
Union army was withdrawn across the river under the cover of darkness,
and the battle of Fredericksburg had passed into history.
Burnside, at his own request, was relieved of the command of the Army
of the Potomac, which was handed to General Joseph Hooker.