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The mind of the enemy and the will of his leaders is a target of far more importance than the bodies of his troops. -- Brigadier General S.B. Griffith |
Fredericksburg I, 1862(233 total words in this text)(1868 Reads)  Other Names: Marye?s Heights Location: Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg Campaign: Fredericksburg Campaign (November-December 1862) Date(s): December 11-15, 1862 Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS] Forces Engaged: 172,504 total (US 100,007; CS 72,497) Estimated Casualties: 17,929 total (US 13,353; CS 4,576) 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 11, 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. Union generals C. Feger Jackson and George Bayard, and Confederate generals Thomas R.R. Cobb and Maxey Gregg were killed. On December 15, Burnside called off the offensive and recrossed 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. Result(s): Confederate victory |
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This Day in History
1775:
American troops capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.
1796: Napoleon Bonaparte wins a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy. 1857: The Bengal Army in India revolts against the British. 1861: Union troops and civilians riot in St. Louis. 1862: The Battle of Plum Run Bend, Tennessee takes place. 1863: General Thomas J. Jackson dies of pneumonia a week after losing his arm when his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville. 1865: Union cavalry troops capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis near Irvinville, Georgia. 1917: Allied ships get destroyer escorts to fend off German attacks in the Atlantic. 1940: As Germany invades Holland and Belgium, Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Great Britain. 1941: Englands House of Commons is destroyed during the worst of the London Blitz as 550 German bombers drop 100,000 incendiary bombs. |
