Battle of Fredericksburg
Storm on Marye's Heights
| date | 11-15 December 1862 |
|---|---|
| place | Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA |
| output | Confederation victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
|
100.007
|
72,497
|
| losses | |
|
12,653 killed
: 1,284 wounded: 9,600 missing / captured: 1,769 |
5,309 killed
: 595 wounded: 4,061 missing / captured: 653 |
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The Battle of Fredericksburg was an American Civil War battle that took place December 11-15, 1862, in and near the small town of Fredericksburg on Rappahannock , Virginia . The Confederates inflicted high losses on the northern states with comparatively few losses of their own, thus ensuring an early end to General Burnside's campaign to Richmond .
prehistory
President Lincoln instructed Major General McClellan on October 6, 1862, to cross the Potomac with the Potomac Army and attack the Northern Virginia Army or force them to retreat south while the road conditions still permitted movement. 20 days later, after a long discussion, McClellan obeyed this order. The Potomac Army crossed the Potomac with first parts on October 26th and marched to the eastward slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains . McClellan did not attack the evasive Northern Virginia Army, which had since been reorganized and recovered from its defeat at Antietam , across the mountains on the flank, nor did he relocate it south. Lincoln therefore relieved McClellan of his command on November 5 and two days later installed Major General Ambrose E. Burnside as Commander in Chief.
Burnside did not consider himself fit for the command, but bowed to the President's orders. One of his first steps was to streamline the command structure of the Potomac Army. In order not to have to lead six or more corps at the same time , Burnside created the management level of the Grand Division. He named these Left, Center and Right Grand Divisions and subordinated them to two corps and additional cavalry .
Course of the battle
preparation
Burnside intended to cross the Rappahannock near Fredericksburg with the Potomac Army and conquer Richmond. Since the rivers were flooding at this time of year and the bridges over the river had been destroyed, he had requested pontoon bridges for the crossing. The delivery was delayed due to bureaucratic inadequacies in the War Ministry and a deterioration in road conditions.
The bulk of the Right Grand Division under Major General Edwin Vose Sumner had reached Stafford Heights on November 20 on the banked east bank of the Rappahannock. Although the Union artillery dominated the city, the city did not follow the request to surrender. While the residents fled, a Confederate regiment occupied the homes. In total there were only a few thousand Confederate soldiers on the south bank.
Informed by the reconnaissance of the cavalry under Major General JEB Stuart about the movements of the Potomac Army, General Robert E. Lee moved the I. Corps under Lieutenant General James Longstreet to the heights west of Fredericksburg. This reached the site before the pontoons of the northern states arrived at Rappahannock. The II Corps under Lieutenant General Thomas J. Jackson also reached the area south of Fredericksburg, following Long Street, by the end of November.
Crossing over the Rappahannock
After the pontoons had finally arrived on November 25th at the same time as Lee's troops, Burnside decided to begin the attack on December 11th. In the morning, the pioneers began assembling the pontoons at five crossing points. However, they were disturbed by snipers in the homes of Fredericksburg and suffered great losses.
Even the fire of the artillery on the village did not succeed in driving the snipers from their positions, but it did set the city on fire. The snipers were only driven away by the attack of Union troops crossing the south bank with boats. By the evening of December 12th, about 55,000 men and 116 artillery pieces from the Left Grand Division under Major General Franklin were on the bank south of the city and around 31,000 men from the Right Grand Division under Major General Sumner were in the city itself got.
The city was subsequently sacked by the Union soldiers located there. The Confederate soldiers - mostly Virginians - were extremely indignant about this, and Lee himself angrily compared the deeds with the rage of the vandals .
The Northern Virginia Army had deployed Lee on the hills west of the city on both sides of Marye's Heights under Longstreets and then on both sides of Prospect Hill and further south in anticipation of a river crossing at Port Royal under Jackson.
Attack on the left wing on December 13th
Burnside intended to attack the right wing of the Northern Virginia Army, to roll up and destroy Lee's remaining troops in the deep right flank with simultaneous frontal binding. This operation plan was based on aerial reconnaissance, which the Confederate Division DH Hills had reported to him on December 12th at Port Royal.
On December 12, Lee realized Burnside's intent and ordered Jackson to concentrate his forces on the right wing of the Northern Virginia Army. Jackson then ordered DH Hills Division there and this marched 18 miles that night and took positions before daybreak.
At around 8:30 a.m. on December 13, I Corps attacked Major General John F. Reynolds' Jackson's positions. A flank fire of the Confederate Major John Pelham with two guns forced Reynolds to break off the attack and to turn Brigadier General Abner Doubleday's division south for flank protection, which at the same time prevented attacks by the Confederate cavalry under Major General JEB Stuart.
At around 12 noon, Reynolds and Major General George G. Meades' division re-entered. This attack was also repelled. In another attack at 1 p.m., Meade's troops, supported by Brigadier General John Gibbons' division , managed to break into Jackson's positions at a width of 600 m. Jackson had deliberately left out this area in the defense, as it was not suitable for defense and it was precisely in this area that Meades attacked. Around 2:15 p.m. Jackson ordered Major General Jubal A. Earlys' standing in reserve division to counterattack, which threw Meade and Gibbon back to their starting positions.
Behind Meade was Brigadier General David B. Birney's division of Major General "Fighting" Joe Hooker's Center Grand Division . Although Meade sent him three messages to reinforce him in order to expand his success, Birney declined to give any assistance on the grounds that he would not allow himself to be given orders by an equal division commander. Only when Meade told him personally that he would take responsibility for the deployment of his troops did Birney agree. But it was too late - Early had already started his attack. A chance for the Potomac Army was wasted.
Attack on Marye's Heights
Longstreet had his artillery, about 300 guns, positioned on either side of Marye's Heights. They could act from three sides on the open, sloping area west of Fredericksburg and take attacking troops into crossfire after crossing the Canal Ditch, a drainage ditch. The infantry from Lafayette McLaws ' division, deployed along a stone wall along the Sunken Road , was able to intervene in the battle at precisely this point. About 2,000 men were deployed on Sunken Road, with a further 7,000 in reserve on the rear slope behind it. The Confederate lines stood in rows of four and could therefore fire very quickly.
Around 11 a.m. the attack by the Potomac Army began with II Corps Major General Darius N. Couch 'from Major General Sumner's Right Grand Division. The order was to take Marye's Heights with a division or several. The first division to come out of protecting the homes of Fredericksburg was that of Brigadier General William H. French. All three brigades attacked one after the other head-on against Sunken Road. The next division under Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock managed with a brigade to get within 35 meters of the Confederate positions. The next division attacked by Brigadier General Oliver Otis Howards with another three brigades head-on against Marye's Heights. All attacks were repulsed.
Sumner now ordered the IX. Corps Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcox 'to attack Sunken Road again. This instructed Brigadier General Samuel D. Sturgis' division on the left past the broken down divisions to attack the Confederate on their right flank. This attack was also caught in the crossfire of the artillery and the fire of the muskets from Sunken Road.
One soldier described the attack: “I had to be careful not to step on the dead or wounded. The slope was slippery with blood. ”And Lee said to Longstreet:
It is well that war is so terrible - we should grow too fond of it!
"It's only good that the war is so terrible - otherwise we might enjoy it."
McLaws also had to constantly strengthen and replace his troops because of the failures. This change was interpreted by the Union as a withdrawal. The deployment of the next division under Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys from the Center Grand Division Hookers was therefore carried out as a bayonet attack with the same catastrophic consequences as all previous attacks. After dark, Hooker attempted to attack again, but that attempt was also stopped by Confederate fire. After that, Hooker ordered the attacks to stop.
After the battle
On December 14th, Burnside wanted to attack again and personally his former IX. Lead corps. His officers succeeded in dissuading him from this intention. He then refrained from attempting any further attacks.
Lee initially expected the attacks by the Potomac Army to continue; he renounced an attack on the positions of the enemy because of the effectiveness of the Union artillery on Stafford Heights.
After a very cold night that many wounded did not survive, the Potomac Army spent most of its time recovering its wounded and fallen. There have been notable incidents on the battlefield. Confederate Sergeant Richard Rowland Kirkland asked his superior to help the Union wounded. He spent most of the day bringing water to the wounded "enemies". This earned him the name Angel of Fredericksburg .
In the south the soldiers abused each other from their positions, which were only a few meters apart. Incited as if at a football game, more and more neighbors joined in the abuse. Two soldiers became so angry that they laid down their weapons and an unofficial truce was signed. They fought a fist fight between the lines, cheered on by soldiers on both sides. After the end of the fight, the two opponents washed off the blood and both sides began to shoot each other again.
On the night of December 15, Burnside withdrew all troops from Fredericksburg, left two corps on Stafford Heights and went to winter camps, which the Northern Virginia Army did like him.
Burnside was unable to deviate from his operational plan. The risks of a deviation existed in the flood and the resulting lack of support for his troops on the other side of the Rappahannock. He thereby missed the opportunity to cut off the Northern Virginia Army from their capital and defeat them with his superior forces. On the other hand, he only had this one plan, and any deviation from it was planlessness - and that was worse for a troop leader than losing a battle. By being inflexible, he had given Lee the opportunity to achieve a glorious victory.
The Mud March
Public and Washington pressure to finally take offensive action against the Confederation continued to weigh on Burnside. When the weather was mild in January 1863, he decided to bypass Lee's Northern Virginia Army on the right, attack on the left flank and advance on Richmond.
The Potomac Army marched north along the Rappahannock on January 20, 1863. In the afternoon it started to drizzle and during the night it turned into heavy rains that lasted for the next few days. The next morning the guns and ammunition wagons turned the streets into a morass in which they sank up to their axles. Whole regiments deployed in the crew train and triple clothing were not able to pull the wagons and mounts out of the mud. Even the soldiers marching on foot barely made any headway - with every step they took off their boots and they got heavier and heavier. Burnside had to cancel the entire operation on January 24th.
Interestingly enough, the Confederate field guards cheered him on from across the river with posters that read: “Burnside's Army Stuck in the Mud.” - “Burnside's Army is in the mud.” Or “This way to Richmond.” - “Here it goes Richmond. "
Because of these failures, Burnside asked for his replacement. On January 26, 1863, he was replaced by Major General Joseph Hooker as Commander in Chief of the Potomac Army.
literature
Source editions and reference works
- William C. Davis: The American Civil War. Soldiers, generals, battles . Translated into German by Anke Schreiber. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0384-3 .
- Bernd G. Längin : The American Civil War. A chronicle in pictures day after day . Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-86047-900-8 .
- James M. McPherson (Ed.): The Atlas of the Civil War . Running Press, Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 0-7624-2356-0 .
- United States War Department (Ed.): The War of the Rebellion. A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies . United States Government Printing Office , Washington DC 1880–1901.
Representations
- Gary W. Gallagher (Ed.): The Fredericksburg Campaign. Decision on the Rappahannock . University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 1995, ISBN 0-8078-2193-4 .
- William K. Goolrick: Rebels Resurgent. Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville. Time-Life-Books, Alexandria, VA 1985, ISBN 0-8094-4748-7 .
- Francis A. O'Reilly: The Fredericksburg Campaign. Winter War on the Rappahannock . University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 2003, ISBN 0-8071-2809-0 .
- George C. Rable: Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 2002, ISBN 0-8078-2673-1 .
- Edward J. Stackpole: The Fredericksburg Campaign: Drama on the Rappahannock. 2nd Edition. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA 1991, ISBN 0-8117-2337-2 .
- Daniel E. Sutherland : The Dare Mark Campaign. Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln & London 1998, ISBN 0-8032-4253-0 .
supporting documents
- ^ A b National Park Service, American Battlefield Protection Program: Troop Strength . Status: May 13, 2010
- ↑ Fox's Regimental Losses:, Chapter XIV: Union Losses . Status: May 13, 2010
- ^ The War of the Rebellion , Series I, Volume XXI, pp. 572 and 635: Confederate Losses . Status: May 13, 2010
- ↑ Douglas S. Freeman Vol II p. 462, No pleasure in war . Status: May 13, 2010
- ↑ Confederate Military History, Volume 12 : The Angel of Fredericksburg . Status: May 13, 2010
- ↑ Bruce Catton: Reflections on the Civil War : quoted here: Fist fight between the fronts (Word document) (DOC file; 272 kB). Status: May 13, 2010
