Battle Of Fredericksburg Essay

Anthony Rizzo

Battle of Fredericksburg: A Humiliating Defeat For the Union

When the North and South divided the nation into the Union and the Confederates, many knew that there would be many battles fought in the bloody Civil War. One of these campaigns was the battle at Fredericksburg. In preparation for the battle of Fredericksburg, Lincoln asked Ambrose Burnside to command the Union while Robert E. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. The Union was projected to emerge victories because there were more soldiers engaged there. However, during the battle, Burnside ordered one unsuccessful attack after another against the protected Confederates who had the high ground of Marye's Heights. The North endured the most humiliating defeat

Top of his class at West Point, Franklin still fell victim to the Civil War. In the battle, Franklin was unable to receive specific directions from Burnside, so his troops did not have proper support when fighting the Confederates. Hooker was the general who ended the little battles at Marye’s Heights. Because of Hooker’s success, Burnside was afraid that Hooker would replace him. Hooker did eventually replace Burnside. However, he suffered a defeat as well. Sumner was the oldest on the battlefield and experienced forty years in the army. However, despite his wisdom, he was incapable of adapting to present military

In the process, Lincoln would have to write letters to Burnside that would have strict verbal commands to give his other officers. Then Burnside would either explicitly call out the order or have to write his letter to distant officers. As simple as it sounds, this process confused with the officers. One example had the commander of the Left Grand Division, Franklin, became confused because Burnside’s command seemed to reduce his role and was in conflict with the previous evening discussion with Burnside.(CITE)

At the Battle of Fredericksburg, failures of strategic planning lost the Union victory. Burnside planned to use his Left Grand Division of men to divert Lee’s right flank while the rest of Burnside’s army went to overthrow the Confederates at Marye’s Heights. However, the Confederate soldiers were positioned in an organized natural trench formed with stone walls that surrounded Lee’s right flank at Sunken Road. Burnside’s division met the same fate, rounds of gun and artillery fire from the untouchable