Fredericksburg - Battle of Fredericksburg

Well today is Saturday and we have one week left. We left Williamsburg this morning and headed to Fredericksburg. We made a small detour in Richmond to a Build-A-Bear store. I got a shirt that says Virginia and an outfit for watching the Olympics in. Kennedy got a few new outfits as well. We were hopping to get a confederate soldier outfit as well as an union soldier outfit. I guess we will have to come up with another plan.

We only accomplished one historical event in Fredericksburg today. We went on an audio tour of the Battle of Fredericksburg. The audio tour was created by the Eastern National Company. It had us driving to 13 different locations. We would drive to each spot and listen to the events that occurred at that location. Some of the spots have been taken over by the expansion of people and of buildings. Some of the locations are different due to the natural growth of trees.

The audio tour took us to the following stops: City Dock, Chatham, Upper Pontoon Crossing, Franklin's Front, Prospect Hill, Federal Breakthrough, Lee's Hill, Marye's Height, The Millrace, The Stratton House, The Sunken Road, and Fredericksburg Visitor Center.

Both Ms. Wood and Ms. Edwards thought that there would be more to the battlefield then there was. I think we got some good pictures though and learned a lot about this event. At least I did.

• The Battle of Fredericksburg took place between December 11 - December 15, 1862
• The Confederate troops were led by Robert E. Lee and the Union troops were led by Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside had just taken command of the troops after McClellan was relieved of command by Abraham Lincoln.
• The Union used about 114,000 troops and the Confederates used 72,500 troops.
• Union losses consisted of 1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded and 1,769 captured or missing.
• Confederate losses consisted of 608 killed, 4,116 wounded, and 653 captured or missing.
• Confederate soldiers we learned more about and names we recognized: James Longstreet, Thomas Jackson, Joseph B. Kershaw, Thomas Cobb, and Lewis Armistead.
• Union soldiers we learned more about and we recognized: Ambrose Burnside, John Gibbon, John Reynolds and the 20th Maine.
• McClellan was relieved of command on November 7th.
• Burnside was attempting to get the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River. They ran into difficulties because the Confederate troops had destroyed the bridges across the Rappahannock. The Army of the Potomac had to wait for pontoon bridges to arrive from Washington D.C.
• Longstreet's troops dug into the heights west of Fredericksburg and Jackson's troops headed to Port Royal.
• Lee's army held a 25 mile defensive line.
• Burnside made the decision to cross the river at Fredericksburg.
• December 11th - Union troops started to construct pontoon bridges. The engineers were shot down by Confederate riflemen and the bridges were not completed.
• Burnside shelled the town. This went on for eight hours. He ordered his troops to cross the river in pontoon boats and secure the town. By the end of the 11th the Union forces controlled the town.
• December 12th - Union forces entered Fredericksburg in full force. They pillaged the town.
• Lee ordered Jackson's forces to Fredericksburg. He had his entire army on hand to meet the threat of Burnside's attack.
• December 13th - Burnside ordered to attacks. One against Prospect Hill and the second at Marye's Heights. The attack at Prospect Hill was a partial success. The Union army was eventually forced to withdraw from the field of battle at Prospect Hill.
• At Mayre's Heights - The Confederates were able to hold off 30,000 Union soldiers for eight hours. At this location 12,000 Union soldiers were dead or wounded. The confederates lost 5,000.
• December 14th - Burnside had been planning another attack and was convinced to retreat across the Rappahannock River. They headed back to Stafford County camps and spent a cold winter.

Here are some pictures that we took at the different stops along the way.

• Here is a picture of Kennedy and myself. We are at Prospect Hill.

In the background of this picture you can see a pyramid. This pyramid is for General Meade's troops making the only break through of the Confederate line at Prospect Hill.

Here is a picture that Ms. Edwards took at the top of Lee's Hill. Ms. Wood and she walked up the path and viewed the location that Lee's headquarter was located.

Here is a picture of the cemetery at Fredericksburg.

Here is a picture of the monument that is outside of the cemetery.

Here is a picture of the marker that represents the spot where Confederate soldier Thomas Reade Cobbs was killed. He was near the Sunken Road on Marye's Heights. He died on December 13, 1862.

One of the many heroic stories that comes from this battlefield is portrayed below. This statue was placed at Marye's Heights. The man in the statue is Richard Rowland Kirkland. He was a part of Company G, 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. He went out into the field and gave water to the wounded. Union soldiers as well as Confederate. He was nicknamed the "Angel of Marye's Heights"

Here is a picture of the Sunken Road. Along the left is a stonewall.

Here is a picture of a house that we saw at Marye's Heights.

Here is a picture of the view that Ms. Edwards got from Lee's Headquarters.